Team Phoenix
by wenjing10
Summary: When darkness and evil prevails, our greatest hope has lost; disputes erupt due to differences, chaos around caverns been unleashed. In these darkest times, heroes are made. The rise of the Phoenix unites all: The Guardians and Assistants, The Hunters of Artemis, Team Alpha-Omega, the Saints, Team Phoenix and more. Would they succeed in fixing the damages and defeating the Emperor?
1. Prologue

Every time I think about Team Phoenix (or any of its members) that was being mentioned in My Life in Slugterra, I feel the need to write a story about its history, my adventures in the team, and its aftermath. So enjoy this prologue, which tells why the name 'Team Phoenix' was chosen.

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _"Blossoms wilt and died,  
_ _Light be confined by dark;  
_ _Fallen the Dragon has,  
_ _And rise the power of evil._

 _Rust the shine of glory,  
_ _Beauty and morals to dust;  
_ _Deepen the bitter war has,  
_ _With conflict that never ends._

 _Lost the hope has not,  
_ _On the ashes of his heroism;  
_ _A spark ignites his ashes,  
_ _Gives birth to the Phoenix._

 _A fiery heart she has,  
_ _With wings spread to fly;  
_ _Great potential she possesses,  
_ _Rises stronger from every fall._

 _Hidden power and vigor in name,  
_ _Recalled the Dragon will be;  
_ _Unite to bring balance to Slug Fu,  
_ _Overthrown the Emperor will be."_

Had you ever heard about this poem? Or maybe the Mandarin version of it?

 _"梅花枯死，  
_ _光被暗围；  
_ _龙方沦陷，  
_ _邪方兴起。_

 _荣光锈蚀，  
_ _美德化尘；  
_ _苦战恶化，  
_ _冲突不穷。_

 _希望未失，  
_ _由雄子灰；  
_ _火花然灰，  
_ _诞生凤凰。_

 _凰于火心，  
_ _展翅高飞；  
_ _优质内在，  
_ _卷土重来。_

 _名义武猛，  
_ _召回龙方；  
_ _功夫平衡，  
_ _皇帝必亡。"_

The two poems... were the written versions of the Prophecy. The Prophecy was been foreseen by Slug Fu Masters, each with different point of views, and was foretold by fortune tellers, after a few years since the fall of Junjie, the Protector and Champion of the Eastern Caverns, who was also known as the Dragon.

The Prophecy spread like wildfire and everyone had heard about it. Some people believed, some people did not, and some people were skeptical.

However, everyone knew the Phoenix was not just a mystical bird – it was a female slinger. The Second Chosen One, who could overthrow the Emperor. (Junjie was the First Chosen One)

The Phoenix was a loner... until she met the right teammates. And that was how Team Phoenix was formed.

* * *

I spent a lot of time writing the Mandarin version of the poem as I tried to make it sound short and nice.

In the next following chapters, we will meet the members in Team Phoenix: their history and how they met each other.


	2. Wei Cheng's New Finding

Since chapter 18 of My Life in Slugterra has been uploaded, you will have seen the name "Wei Cheng" and in this chapter, we will get to know about him.

* * *

 _"It may be a myth, but I will find out the truth." - Wei Cheng_

 **Wei Cheng's New Finding**

A man, who was in his mid-twenties, walked across a valley, looking for something. He had short black hair, a pair of brown eyes, and a slightly tanned skin. He wore a grey armour, a blue scarf that was tied around his neck like a scout, a gold belt, a pair of dark blue knee pads and gloves. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 5 slug tubes. Another bandolier was strapped around his waist as a belt, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. There were two X-Duty Takedown blasters strapped on his belt. His brownish-red horse mecha-beast was walking slowly.

"I am sure this is the right place," he murmured to himself and he examined the map of the Eastern Caverns carefully. Then, he took out his journal and opened it. Inside the book, there were many scribbles and writings about caverns, inhabitants, slugs and characteristics. He flipped to the last page, where he had scribbled details about a cavern. The page showed these:

 _Cavern of the Last East_

 _A mystical cavern, located at the edge of the Eastern Caverns, in the southwest  
_ _Rumoured to be a Shadow Clan territory_

He was determined to find this cavern, even though people said it was a myth. It was the last cavern he had yet to find. He held a compass in his palm and waited for the needle to stop moving. Suddenly, the needle stopped spinning and pointed to a direction while shaking violently by itself. It was as if there was a powerful force or energy causing the needle to respond like that.

Feeling curious, he went into the direction pointed by his compass. As he rode into it, the valley grew darker and he saw strange green markings on the dark wall. He recognized the markings as Shadow Clan language. He had stumbled upon their territory.

When his mecha-beast came to a halt, he spotted an opening on the wall. There were many green markings on the wall, especially around the opening. Once he came down from his vehicle, he heard hissing sounds and he knew he was not alone.

A few shadowy figures climbed around the wall. When they revealed themselves with their glowing green eyes, the man instantly recognized them as Shadow Clans. He loaded a Hop Rock and a Thresher slug, which was his favourite, into his blasters. He aimed at the Shadow Clans as they approached him while making hissing sounds.

"I am not going to shoot you! I know you are defending this place," he said, hoping that he could make them understand that he was not a threat.

The Shadow Clans stopped on their tracks and they opened a path to the opening. An old man wearing a long blue robe, was slowly walking toward him. He was using a fusion blaster as a staff.

"May I help you?" the old man asked.

He saw the old man and was surprised. "Master Wu?" he blurted out.

"Hmm... you know my name... but I do not know yours," Master Wu replied.

"My name is Wei Cheng," he introduced himself.

"Wei Cheng... I have heard about you..." Master Wu stated, "Since you were a teenager, you left your family to travel around the Eastern Caverns for almost 30 years."

"Yes, and this is my last destination," Wei Cheng answered.

"I see," Master Wu turned to the Shadow Clans and said, "He is not a threat to us." The Shadow Clans obeyed and left them.

"Follow me," he told Wei Cheng.

As Wei Cheng followed the old master into the dark opening, the master started talking. "I have made peace with the Shadow Clans right here. They allowed me to live here to escape the war that has raged on for years."

"Yes, I know. That's why I am trying to travel through the safer caverns," Wei Cheng told him.

"And now you found it: perhaps the safest cavern you can ever find."

"Because people think it as a myth?"

"Yes, and here we are."

The cavern became bright. Wei Cheng was awed by its scenery: there were many plants, a small wooden hut, and a beautiful garden. The plum blossom trees swayed and the pink petals landed on top of him and Master Wu.

"Wow... it looks like... Peach Blossom Spring Cavern," Wei Cheng commented.

"Yes, apart from the number of houses," Master Wu said. "Peach Blossom used to be a safe haven for everyone in the Eastern Caverns. It was the capital too. However, things have changed now. That place is no longer safe."

"Currently many caverns are not safe, but this cavern definitely feels safe," Wei Cheng added.

All of the sudden, he got an idea. "Hey, maybe we can help the refugees of the war to come here," he suggested.

"That sounds like an idea made by the kindest of the people, which is wonderful," Master Wu answered and then added, "but how are you going to provide enough food and supplies for them?"

"Don't worry, I got a best friend who can help me," Wei Cheng replied confidently.

* * *

This period was roughly around 10 years since the fall of the Eastern Champion. So, Master Wu had been living in the Cavern of the Last East for that long. In this period, Wei Cheng and his best friend were adults. Other members of Team Phoenix were either kids or teenagers, and there was one who just became an adult.

So, now you know about Wei Cheng's history. Anyway, try guessing who is his best friend.


	3. Dong Song to the Rescue

And so... let's get to know about Wei Cheng's best friend!

Oh, and be warn that this chapter may have some... gore.

* * *

" _A warm heart is one of the things I need to fight the cold." - Dong Song_

 **Dong Song to the Rescue**

Wei Cheng walked on the snowy ground. He was in a northern frozen cavern. He was glad that there was no snowstorm right now so he could visit his best friend easier. He finally noticed an igloo with a white wolverine mecha-beast parked outside of it. He walked to the front door.

"Dong Song?" he called out.

A boy also in his twenties, known as Dong Song, came out of the igloo. He had short white hair, a pair of light brown eyes, a slightly pale skin and a height obviously shorter than Wei Cheng. He wore a charcoal black armour with the white thick fur of an Ice Ogre covering outside, a silver belt, a pair of black gloves. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 3 slug tubes. Another bandolier was strapped around his waist as a belt, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. There was a bow blaster that was similar to Gerhard Stocker's blaster strapped on his right arm and it was white in colour with light blue snowflake patterns decorated around it.

"Wei Cheng!" Dong Song was delighted to see him. "What brings you here? Don't tell me you are gonna find more Frostcrawlers here!" He laughed lightly as he invited his best friend into his ice made house.

"Oh... yeah. That time I was captured by an Ice Ogre and suffered hypothermia. You came to save me," Wei Cheng said as he sat on a wooden stool and started to warm his hands with the fire made by Dong Song's Flaringo.

(Flashback)

Five years ago, Dong Song was only a teenager. He was in a small market far away from his chilly home, just finished selling the meat that he had hunted around his home in the afternoon. He counted the gold coins he had earned today very cautiously. Then, he closed his stall and packed up. As he walked around the streets, he caught a glimpse of a slug seller. He walked to the seller.

"Excuse me, sir. I see you are selling some slugs. May I ask what kind of slugs do you have?" Dong Song asked.

"Pick one for yourself," the seller answered and showed him a slug container filled with slugs.

He looked at the slugs and spotted a slug that would be very useful for him: a Flaringo. He took the slug tube with the Flaringo in it and examined it. He gave the seller a bag of gold coins and he accepted it.

Dong Song left and continued the path to his house when he overheard a conversation between two men.

"Hey, did you hear about the tracker who just entered the frozen regions?" a man asked.

"Yes, and I heard that he was captured by an Ice Ogre!" another man replied.

Dong Song stopped on his tracks abruptly. He clenched his fists and his teeth gritted with anger. His heart pumped faster and his adrenaline rushed inside his body. He sped to his parking spot, where he placed his vehicle. He activated it and rode into the frozen regions of the cavern he lived. As he entered the tundra region, he pulled up his black mask to cover most of his face, except for his eyes. The large surface area of his mecha's feet made the ride smoother as they did not sink into the thick snow with ease.

He rode as fast as he could to save the tracker in distress. He knew exactly where the Ice Ogres lived. He sped up his vehicle as the wind was getting stronger, which was a sign of an upcoming snowstorm. In the snowy mountains, there was a large cave and he stopped his mecha-beast right in front of it. He tiptoed into the darkness of the cave and took a peak. He saw a person, hanging on the ceiling. His legs were locked up by a sheet of thick blue ice. It was Wei Cheng and he looked very tired. An Ice Ogre appeared a few seconds later. Dong Song knew the creature was going to have the victim for its lunch.

His hands slipped into the pockets in his charcoal black trousers. Then he pulled them out and placed two small pieces of wax on his eardrums. He activated his bow blaster and loaded a Slyren slug. He shot it toward the Ice Ogre. It performed _Sleepytime_ and let out a strange trilling call, which quickly put the Ice Ogre to sleep. It turned back into protoform and continued singing.

The victim let out a yawn and he felt sleepy. The wax in Dong Song's ears prevented him from falling asleep. He fired a Hop Rock onto the ice sheet and with an explosion, the ice sheet broke into pieces and the victim fell onto the ground. The loud explosion did not wake the Ice Ogre up thanks to the Slyren's singing. Dong Song rushed to the man and tried to help him get up. He realized that the man's skin was abnormally cold and he was barely conscious.

 _He's suffering hypothermia._ Dong Song thought worriedly. He placed him on the ground carefully and ran out of the cave. The scenery outside was blurry white because a snowstorm just struck. He returned to the victim and he knew he must save him fast, but he could not bring him to his house with the snowstorm outside.

Seeing that the Ice Ogre had fallen asleep, he pulled out his katana sword, which was hidden behind his armour. He stabbed the Ice Ogre on its heart and waited for it to stop breathing. Once it let out its last breath, he sliced open the chest and placed Wei Cheng into it. Then, he took out his fur coat and used it to wrap the man to keep him warm. Then, his newly bought Flaringo lighted up its head and the heat from its fire slowly warmed up the surroundings. He kept his eyes on the poor man while warming his palms with the fire.

Two hours had passed, and the snowstorm finally stopped. Dong Song went to check on Wei Cheng. He sighed in relief when he felt the victim's skin was slightly warmer. He pulled him out gently, still wrapping him with the fur. Taking a sight of the dead Ice Ogre, Dong Song took out his katana and sliced off its arms and legs. He froze the pieces of meat with a Frostcrawler and placed them into his handmade basket. He then carried Wei Cheng out of the cave. He secured him on his mecha and drove away.

It took about 10 minutes to reach the igloo, which was Dong Song's home. He parked his vehicle and brought the man inside his icy house. He let Wei Cheng lied on the floor with the fur while he went to the ice made shelf to get some canned food. He pulled his mask down and was glad that he could breathe better. He found a can of chicken soup and smiled. He took a pot and his Flaringo heated it up. He opened the can with his katana and poured the soup into the pot. He stirred it with a spoon, waiting for it to boil.

When the soup was boiled, he heard coughing sounds coming from the man. The man was now conscious and his brown eyes blinked in confusion, trying to make out the surroundings.

"Huh... uh... where... am I?" the man asked.

"Don't worry, you are safe now. And alive," Dong Song replied as he let the soup cool down for a while.

"Argh... I'm... cold..." the man groaned.

"I know, that's why I have prepared chicken soup for you." Dong Song went toward the man. He fed the man when he found that the man's arms were still numb by the cold.

"What's... your name?" the man asked.

"Dong Song," the teenage boy replied. "You?"

"...Wei Cheng," the man answered.

"So... what brings you here, Wei Cheng?"

"Well... I was hunting for a Frostcrawler slug when I was attacked by... an Ice Ogre..."

"Oh, so you must be the tracker I have heard from the market. They said you were captured by an Ice Ogre, so I went to rescue you."

"Oh... thank you... young man. But... why did you save me?" Wei Cheng was feeling better now and he grabbed the spoon to enjoy the chicken soup by himself.

"I do not want anyone to suffer the same fate as... my family," Dong Song's voice dropped when he mentioned about the word 'family'.

"What happened to... your family?"

"Well... when I was a kid, a group of Ice Ogres attacked our village. One of it damaged the ceiling of the cave... and it crumbled onto my family and I... I was the sole survivor..."

"I am incredibly sorry for your lost."

"Well, since then I handle everything by myself. I build a new house, make tools for myself, sell meat as a living and I even do business."

"That is very... diligent of you."

"Thank you. I hunt animals with my two Hoverbugs, which I train them very well. Sometimes I hunt Ice Ogres if I have a chance, and eat them as well."

"Wait, you can kill... Ice Ogres?" Wei Cheng was utterly shocked.

"Yes, I train myself to do it. You can say it's like... avenging my family's death."

"Oh dear."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. So... what about your family?"

"Oh, I left them when I was a teenager, which is like... around 20 to 30 years."

"Why would you do that? Don't you miss them? Or even care about them?"

"They... are quite strict with me... and I don't like that. So I rebelled."

"Have you ever want to see them again?"

"Why should I? I am free now and I can do whatever I want."

"Oh yeah, you almost got eaten by an Ice Ogre and you were about to freeze to death and I saved you! If you are always the self-centered loner, nobody is going to help you in danger. You may be a tracker and have traveled for many years, but that doesn't make you truly knowledgeable. You need people to help you, who have different knowledge for different things, and are willing to share them to you." The statement from Dong Song left Wei Cheng into the silence.

"I am going to cook the meat now. If you want to leave, then please do."

As Dong Song went to get a frozen arm of an Ice Ogre from his basket, Wei Cheng sat quietly to rethink about what he had been through all these years. Dong Song decided to ignore him for a while. He cut open the ice with his katana and sliced the meat into pieces. Then, he let his Flaringo to cook them slowly.

"You're right," Wei Cheng stated quietly. "I do not know everything, and I need friends to help me as I cannot solve everything."

Dong Song looked at him and saw the man averted his eyes from his due to guilt. "I am glad that you can see through your flaws," Dong Song replied as he touched the meat and realized that it was cooked.

"So... you need friends?" he questioned playfully and handed him a cooked meat to Wei Cheng.

"Well... you are my first friend," Wei Cheng replied and took a bite of the meat.

"Oh... that's... good to hear," Dong Song was flattered. "So... how's the meat?"

"It's... quite good. Better than the meat I cook. I usually overcook it," Wei Cheng answered and laughed.

"Oh boy, you definitely need help," Dong Song laughed even louder and the atmosphere became warmer.

(Flashback ended)

"Yes, you changed me... for a better," Wei Cheng said to Dong Song.

"That's what friends do," Dong Song replied.

"And as your friend, I kindly ask you to leave your wintry cavern and moved to a safer cavern."

"Excuse me, what?"

"Look, I need your help to save the refugees of the war right now and I have found a cavern that will be safe for them. But I need resources to help supplying things to them, and that's why I come here."

"You want to supply meat for them as food?"

"Yes, and your experience in business can help to trade some other food like vegetables, beans, canned food, packaged food..."

"Okay, stop. I am in." Wei Cheng grinned at his best friend.

* * *

Originally, Dong Song was supposed to have black hair, onyx eyes, and fair skin. But then I decided to changed it to allow him to blend in with his snowy surroundings ( ***spoiler alert*** and because many people in the Eastern Caverns don't look Asian). And about using his two Hoverbugs for hunting is inspired by a tribe living in the mountains of China. They train endangered eagles to hunt because they cannot plant for food. I decided to make the friendship between Wei Cheng and Dong Song as a comedic relief in the story. Oh, and the scene of Dong Song saving Wei Cheng from dying is a reference from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

I started writing this chapter in midnight when I got so engrossed that I wrote more about Dong Song's life. I realized that I would want to develop every character in this story and expand the universe of the Eastern Caverns ( ***spoiler alert*** since not many caverns are shown in the new season, which disappoints me).

So I decided to open a suggestion box right here and my tumblr page (askwenjing)! I have planned 28 chapters for this, but I fear that it may not satisfy the readers and fans because the adventure parts are only 10 chapters (now add one more for Slug Day) If you have any headcanons for characters or suggestions for adventure ideas, then please do leave in the review section. (Note: I have accepted the request for a male member of Team Phoenix who was raised by slugs)

Guessing time: Who is going to be introduced next? Hint: crystal mines in mountains.


	4. Kun Zhen as An Underlord

So... now we are up to the next character, who is related to the crystal mines in mountains. Enjoy~

* * *

" _This is my home – my family, my people, my cavern." - Kun Zhen_

 **Kun Zhen as An Underlord**

Night had fallen. Every living thing was sleeping soundly. Except one.

In a dim lighted room, a 19 years old girl was thinking deeply on her desk. She had a dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail, a pair of onyx eyes, and fair skin. She wore a jet black armour, yellow elbow pads and gloves with green crystal patterns, and a brown belt. She had a bandolier strapped on her waist, which could carry 10 slug tubes. Two bandoliers that carried three slug tubes each were strapped on her upper legs. She also wore a bandolier on her chest, that could carry 4 slug tubes. There was one more bandolier strapped on her left upper arm, that could carry two slug tubes. She carried an ebony Charger Ultra R3D with yellow-green crystal patterns on the right side of her belt.

She looked troubled as she looked at the family photo on her desk. Her parents owned a mining business in the mountains of this cavern. The people living here worked for her parents. They mined Auroris Crystals, yellow energy crystals that powered the technology in the Eastern Caverns. The mining business made everyone rich. Then, she was born. Despite she was the first born, she did not have the right to inherit the business because she was a girl. When her parents had a son, who was the second born, they decided that he would inherit the business.

She was alright with it. She never wanted to inherit the mining business, she wanted to be a slugslinger. But now, she heard that her cavern was going to be taken over by Underlords. And she wondered what would they do to her family, people and business. Surely they would take over the business and force everyone to become slaves so they can serve the Emperor. And there was no way she would let that happen.

She closed her eyes and opened them again. She had made her decision.

The next day, the cavern remained the same. Everyone was working well. However, Kun Zhen's father noticed something unusual.

"Hey, has anyone seen Kun Zhen? She is not around here," he asked everyone, including his wife and son.

"I haven't seen her in the entire morning," Kun Zhen's little brother answered.

Suddenly, shadowy figures appeared at the entrance of the cavern. Everyone were horrified to see Stone Warriors... and Kun Zhen!

"Kun Zhen! Where have you been?" her father questioned her but it sounded like a demand.

"I am no Kun Zhen anymore. After being appointed by the Dai-Fu, I am Underlord Kun Zhen! From this day, Daqing Cavern will be under my rule, and the Emperor!" Kun Zhen commanded.

Everyone was utterly shocked. How could Kun Zhen suddenly join the Underlords and support the ruthless Emperor? It was like she was being brainwashed!

"Kun Zhen? How could you?!" her mother almost fainted.

"Sister? Are you alright?" her little brother asked her worriedly.

"I am alright, brother. Actually, I am not really working for the Emperor," she confessed quietly, "I am doing this to protect all of you from other Underlords from taking over our cavern. I am actually helping the heroes."

"But how can you do it without getting noticed?" he questioned her curiously.

"Don't worry, my Thugglet slug can help me," she replied and showed him her Thugglet slug, which was one of her favourite slugs.

"So... what can we do to help?" her father questioned.

"Just follow my lead," she answered and winked at her father.

* * *

This event was taken 3 years before I arrived at the Eastern Caverns. Supposedly this chapter is slightly longer, but writer's block. Sorry for the long wait because there has been major changes in the plot of the story (including adding quotes from different characters). I believe this story is going to be more than 30 chapters, with more characters and adventures to tell. Moreover, I even worked on the caverns.

Fun fact: Daqing is a city in China that mainly mines oil. Its name, 大庆 means "great celebration" in Mandarin.

So... in the next chapter, we will meet not one – but two characters! Take a guess. Hint: Technology.


	5. The Inventors

So, in this chapter, we will get to see not one – but two characters! They have something to do with technology. So enjoy.

* * *

" _I may be a woman, but I am taught to do anything, like my father and brothers." - Zhong Fen_

" _My bravery may have cost my arm, but I am still living this slugslinger's life." - Yong Gang_

 **The Inventors**

The road was quiet and the slugs were playing around. Suddenly, the noise from the moving mecha-beasts roared, startling the slugs. There were two mechas, one was a silver yak and another was a blackbuck.

"Kun Zhen sent us a message to come to her cavern," the rider of the silver yak stated. She was a 22 years old Cave Troll. She had brown hair that was tied into a short ponytail, a pair of brown eyes and a bluish-green skin. She wore a blue-black armour, light blue elbow pads and gloves, and a silver belt. She had two bandoliers strapped across her shoulders to her chest, which could carry 5 slug tubes each. A bandolier that carried 5 more slug tubes was strapped around her waist. She carried a blue Enforcer Cyclone HTQ with silver Eastern spiral patterns on the right side of her belt.

"Why did she call for us, Zhong Fen?" the rider of the blackbuck asked the Cave Troll. He was a 15 years old human teenager. He had red hair with orange and yellow stripes all over it, a pair of hazel eyes and a tanned skin. He wore a dark orange armour, a dark red belt, a pair of bright orange knee pads and gloves. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 3 slug tubes. Another bandolier was strapped around his waist as a belt, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. Two bandoliers that carried three slug tubes each were strapped on his upper legs. His blaster, a yellow Sharpslinger Lightningbolt XD with red-orange flame patterns, was strapped behind his back.

What made the boy different from others was his mechanical left arm. He was once a normal boy who liked inventing and using fire element slugs. Until the incident when he went deep into the volcanic cavern, the cavern nearby his home cavern. His left arm was burnt severely by the magma when he tried to catch a Forgesmelter. He did it but his arm lost its functions and was removed. Hence, Zhong Fen was called to help him. She invented the mechanical arm to replace his left arm, much to his delight. Since then, they became best friends.

"I have no idea, Yong Gang, but we will find out as soon as we arrive," Zhong Fen answered.

They arrived at Daqing Cavern. They looked around only to find it seemly empty with people.

"That's strange... Daqing Cavern is usually filled with people, especially miners," Zhong Fen commented.

"Yeah, did Kun Zhen's father send them onto a vacation?" Yong Gang simply questioned.

They did not notice Kun Zhen was hiding behind some thick bushes and was spying on them. Stone Warriors were behind her.

"Attack them!" she commanded the Stone Warriors.

The eyes of the lifeless Stone Warriors suddenly glowed red and their heads tilted upward. Their faces showed an aggressive expression and they marched out the bushes.

Zhong Fen and Yong Gang heard giant footsteps stomping behind them. They turned to their backs and were shocked to see the Stone Warriors marching toward them.

"Are those...?" Yong Gang lost his words.

"Stone Warriors!" Zhong Fen screamed.

"That means... an Underlord is here!" he stated.

"Yes! Taking control of this cavern under the Emperor's name!" she explained.

Two Stone Warriors saw them and raised their cannons. They fired two Hop Jacks toward them.

"Incoming!" Yong Gang shouted.

They dodged the Hop Jacks as they rode their vehicles into the bushes in the opposite directions. Yong Gang loaded his first Flaringo into his blaster while Zhong Fen placed her Rammstone into her blaster. They looked at each other and nodded.

They jumped out from their hiding places and shot their slugs. Zhong Fen's Rammstone performed _Hammerstone_ and released two rocky fists of hers. Yong Gang's Flaringo used _Blastburst_ and shot two small fireballs on the fists, igniting them. The burning fists collided with the chest of the first Stone Warrior. It collapsed into a pile of rocks.

The second Stone Warrior was distracted by the destruction. Two more shots were fired and this time was a Frostcrawler and a Grenuke. The Stone Warrior was too late to respond and was turned into an ice statue by the Frostcrawler. Shortly, the Grenuke got stuck in the opening of its cannon. Its fuse burned out fast and created a massive explosion, destroying the second Stone Warrior.

Three more Stone Warriors came out and shot more of their corrupted slugs. Zhong Fen fired her Thresher and using _Throttlebit_ , it defeated a Grimmstone and sliced a Stone Warrior into half. Yong Gang slung his Lavalynx and it performed _Magmatic_. It turned itself into a ball of lava and hit another Stone Warrior, melting it.

Zhong Fen finally shot her Vinedrill while Yong Gang fired his Hop Rock. The Vinedrill slammed onto the ground and dug its way to the bottom of the last Stone Warrior. All of the sudden, vines grew out and bound the opponent. The Hop Rock crashed onto the Stone Warrior, shattering it into pieces.

"I think that's the last of them," Yong Gang sighed.

"Yes, let's find Kun Zhen. She might be in danger," Zhong Fen replied.

They suddenly heard a clapping sound. It was coming in front of them. They turned to the source and saw Kun Zhen, who was clapping her hands.

"That was great back there, you two," she praised them calmly.

"Kun Zhen! Are you okay?" Zhong Fen asked her worriedly.

"Oh, yes. I am delighted. You two actually defeated my Stone Warriors," she answered.

"YOUR Stone Warriors?" Yong Gang asked in shock.

"Oh yes, I heard that my cavern was going to be conquer by other Underlords. To prevent that, I join them so I can do whatever I want to this cavern," she explained.

"What... do you mean?" Zhong Fen was even worrier now.

"It means I am a spy now. I join them because I need to protect my cavern. But I am still against the Emperor, just in secrecy," she explained it deeper.

"Oh... I see now," Zhong Fen replied with a grin.

"And just now you sent those Stone Warriors to test our battle skills?" Yong Gang questioned.

"Yup, I want to recruit as many rebels as possible, against the Emperor. If I have Stone Warriors, it can bring out the brave lads to fight me," she told them the plan.

"And we tell them the truth and recruit them into our team!" Zhong Fen was liking the idea.

"Besides slugslingers, we can recruit anyone who has talents and are willing to stand up the Emperor," Yong Gang suggested.

"Yes, like you two, my tech savvy friends, will be useful in the battle," Kun Zhen said.

"Yup!" Yong Gang cheered.

"I am liking the idea," Zhong Fen agreed. "What's next?"

* * *

Sorry for not updating for some time, I was busy for college and chapter 19 for My Life in Slugterra. There should be a part that my friend suggested right here, but I decided to move it to chapter 10.

So, let's guess who will be the next character to be introduced. Hint: Fierce woman.


	6. The Young Rebel

So... now it is time to reveal who is the fierce woman. Enjoy!

* * *

" _You can't tell me what I cannot do just because I am a girl." - Yu Juan_

 **The Young Rebel**

Kun Zhen was riding slowly on her bharal mecha-beast, that was grey with a bluish sheen. Her appearance somehow had changed. She had a black hair that was tied into a ponytail, a pair of black eyes, and tanned skin. She wore a jet black armour, green elbow pads and gloves, and a white belt. She still carried her bandoliers. She carried an ebony Charger Ultra R3D, but without the yellow-green crystal patterns, on the right side of her belt. She also wore a badge that had the Underlord symbol, and an Auroris Crystal Pendant. There were a few Stone Warriors following her from behind.

"Kun Zhen? Are you sure this plan is going to work?" Zhong Fen's voice could be heard from Kun Zhen's earpiece that she was wearing.

"Yes, trust me. As long as there are brave people trying to stand up to the Emperor and his Underlords, we can recruit them into our team," Kun Zhen explained.

"Okay then. Just be careful. We are following you carefully," Yong Gang reminded her. It turned out that they were taking the narrow paths between the main path that Kun Zhen and the Stone Warriors were on. The Stone Warriors did not notice them thanks to the trees.

Out of their sight, there was a mysterious figure hiding in a tree. Her hazel eyes stared at Kun Zhen and the Stone Warriors really carefully from behind. She loaded a Grenuke into her Renegade Ultra QLC, that was crimson in colour with white spiral patterns all over.

She aimed at the ground that Kun Zhen was heading and fired. Her Grenuke reached velocity and landed at the center of the path. Its fuse immediately began to light up. Kun Zhen was startled by it but was too late to respond before its fuse burned out. The Grenuke let out a powerful explosion, knocking her mecha and herself down. Yong Gang and Zhong Fen gasped.

The five Stone Warriors began to turn their heads around to find the culprit. A shot was heard and an Armashelt was seen flying toward their direction. It collided with its head, destroying it and its remaining body collapsed onto the ground lifelessly.

The four Stone Warriors managed to track down the origin of the shot. They lifted their cannons to the trees behind them. They fired their corrupted slugs toward the trees. A Grimmstone crashed onto the tree trunk where the figure was hiding. As it was about to fall, the figure jumped out and revealed herself into the light.

It was an eleven years old female Elf. She had a shoulder-length auburn hair, a pair of hazel eyes, and fair skin. She wore a black red armour, bright red elbow pads and gloves, and a dark blue belt. She wore a bandolier on her chest, that could carry 5 slug tubes. She also had a bandolier strapped on her waist, which could carry 10 slug tubes. Two bandoliers that carried three slug tubes each were strapped on her upper legs. She was holding her blaster tight. She was short and small, but she was visible to her enemies in this current situation.

"Get her!" Kun Zhen commanded her Stone Warriors. They responded by shooting more corrupted slugs on the culprit.

The young rebel was very swift. She was able to dodge all of the slugs well. She shot her Thresher and it transformed into a hybrid of a shark and tiger. Using _Throttlebit_ , it turned itself into a saw blade and sliced a Stone Warrior into half.

Kun Zhen loaded her Rammstone and slung it toward the rebel. However, the Elf counterattacked it using a Tazerling. It used _Tazerbolt_ to shock the Rammstone, defeating it. She fired a Hop Rock and it aimed at another Stone Warrior. The Hop Rock exploded on impact with its head, destroying it too.

She also slung her Tormato toward Kun Zhen. It performed _Slyphoon_ and spun around Kun Zhen, producing a tornado that carried her along with it. Yong Gang and Zhong Fen wanted to help her but that would expose their identities and it would get worse if the Stone Warriors saw them.

The mysterious slinger shot her Polero and using _Wrapattak_ , the two heads wrapped around the two remaining Stone Warriors on their waist, slamming both of them and reduced them into crumbles of rocks.

Seeing her Tormato had exhausted its energy and the tornado disappeared, she fired her Arachnet toward Kun Zhen who had fallen onto the ground. The Arachnet wrapped her up, making her immobile.

"There is no way to go now, Underlord," the mysterious slinger said as she pointed her blaster at Kun Zhen. There was a Rammstone inside her blaster, growling at the enemy.

"Wait! I am not really an Underlord!" Kun Zhen answered.

"Don't try to lie to me! You are clearly wearing the uniform and badge of an Underlord. And you even have Stone Warriors!"

"I can prove it to you!"

Zhong Fen and Yong Gang came out of their hiding places and aimed their blasters at the slinger. The slinger looked shocked. A Thugglet hopped onto Kun Zhen's shoulder. A red flash surrounded her and revealed her true appearance.

"A Thugglet slug?" the slinger was surprised.

"Yes," Kun Zhen replied and tore open the web, "Look, I really don't have the Underlord badge." She pointed the bandolier that was strapped on her chest.

"It was all... an illusion?"

"Yes, I am Kun Zhen. These are my friends, Zhong Fen is the Cave Troll, and the boy is Yong Gang."

"So... you three... are not Underlords?"

"I am an Underlord, but I am a spy that help the heroes."

"Why... why would you even do that?"

"I do it so I can protect my people... and recruit people who stand up to the Emperor. Like you."

"Me?" the slinger was utterly surprised.

"What's your name?"

"...Yu Juan." the slinger introduced.

"Well, Yu Juan, welcome to the team," Kun Zhen announced.

* * *

So basically, due to a broken Internet connection outside, I cannot access to Internet for THREE DAYS! (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) The technicians are too lazy to even come on weekends to fix it! So I am incredibly sorry for the lack of updates in all of my social media accounts! (crying in the corner and getting furious)

To make up for my absence, I will update all of my Slugterra stories very fast by Monday. After that, my exams are coming on October so I will not update so soon. That is why I have to do it fast.

Oh, and here's a hit for the next chapter: Former villain in water.


	7. Starting Over

" _All I want is someone to give me a second chance." - Hai Chang_

 **Starting Over**

"So... where are we going now?" Zhong Fen asked Kun Zhen through her earpiece. Kun Zhen was once again in her disguise as an Underlord with a new army of Stone Warriors following her from behind. Zhong Fen, Yong Gang and Yu Juan were taking other paths to avoid being noticed by the Stone Warriors.

"We are going to a cavern that is in the Southeast region," Kun Zhen answered.

"For what?" Yu Juan questioned through the earpiece.

"I heard that the cavern has an intruder, and he is hiding in the Big Great Marshlands," Zhong Fen answered.

"So why are we using the Stone Warriors?" Yong Gang asked in confusion.

"Because if he is a bad guy, we can ally with him to obtain inside information," Kun Zhen explained through her earpiece. "If he is actually a good guy, we can test his skills and recruit him."

"Hmm... a two ways plan?" Yu Juan blurted out.

"Yes," Kun Zhen replied.

As Kun Zhen and her Stone Warriors arrived at the cavern, all of the residents went into their houses and shops for hiding. "Alright... now where is the culprit?" Kun Zhen whispered and she rode on her mecha-beast slowly.

Her mecha came to a halt when she saw a figure standing in the middle of her path. It was an Amphibianoid who was about to reach 20 years old. He had a dark purple, brown eyes and like other Amphibianoids, he was bald. He wore a purple armour, a black belt, a pair of indigo knee pads and gloves. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 3 slug tubes. He also had a bandolier strapped across his shoulders to his chest, which could carry 5 slug tubes each. Another bandolier that carried three slug tubes was strapped on his upper right leg. His blaster, a blue-purple bow blaster with fish bones patterns, was strapped on his right arm.

"Get out of the way , you good for nothing creature!" Kun Zhen decided to be rude to suit her position as an Underlord.

"No, I won't let you terrorize this cavern!" the Amphibianoid shouted.

"No! You are the one who terrorizes this cavern first!" a man yelled from a shop.

This made the Amphibianoid angry and pointed his blaster at the man. The man became terrified and went back to hiding. The Amphibianoid sighed and turned his attention back to Kun Zhen and her Stone Warriors.

"Leave now or be destroyed!" Kun Zhen warned the Amphibianoid.

"Never!" he protested and fired his Frostcrawler. The ice slug immediately let out its cold breath. Kun Zhen rode her vehicle away just in time to avoid the attack. One of the Stone Warriors was unfortunate to be frozen. The slinger shot his Rammstone and its smashed the frozen Stone Warrior, destroying it.

"Attack!" Kun Zhen commanded her Stone Warriors. They started to fire their corrupted slugs toward the rebel. He ran backwards to avoid the attacks and fired his Blastipede toward his enemies. It transformed and sent all of its mines on the Stone Warriors. The Blastipede returned to its protoform and touched its antennas. The mines suddenly detonated and destroyed all of the remaining Stone Warriors.

"Get him!" Kun Zhen yelled and pointed at the rebel who was running away. Her friends appeared and they all rode their mechas to chase him. Yu Juan also had her mecha-beast, and it was a red panda. Realizing that he was being chased, he slung his Jellyish and it spat a sticky goo on the legs of Kun Zhen's mecha-beast, causing it to stop suddenly. The inertia sent her off of her vehicle and she landed hard on the ground.

"Kun Zhen!" Zhong Fen shouted worriedly.

"I am fine... just get him!" Kun Zhen replied.

Zhong Fen fired her Rammstone toward the rebel. However, he shot his AquaBeek and using _Aquajet_ , it squirted a jet of water that was strong enough to knock off the Rammstone and Zhong Fen off of her silver yak mecha.

Yong Gang slung his Lavalynx toward him. It performed _Moltera_ and opened a lava-filled trench on the path that he was going after. The heat was so great that he could not go through. Yong Gang and Yu Juan pointed their blasters at him, thinking that he would surrender since he was trapped.

They were wrong. He fired his Arachnet into the air. It used _Grapnet_ and shot a web line back at him while it flied through the air. He grabbed the web line and flew away. His Arachnet held onto a roof and he was dragged toward that direction. As he was flying, he slung his Neotox toward them. It transformed into a green alligator with a caterpillar's tail. Yong Gang and Yu Juan tried to escape but the Neotox continued to fly to their directions. It performed _Toxicloud_ and emitted a toxic poison cloud attack on them. The green cloud reached them and they inhaled it. They were instantaneously paralyzed and their skins turned green like the cloud.

Kun Zhen and Zhong Fen could barely saw the rebel ran off. "Looks like he is running to the Big Great Marshlands," Zhong Fen blurted out as she stood up.

"Maybe that is where he lives," Kun Zhen said as she dusted off the dust on her armour. "We better follow him on foot."

"Not without Yong Gang and Yu Juan," the Cave Troll pointed at their paralyzed friends.

"You can carry them while we walk," Kun Zhen told her.

As they entered the Big Great Marshlands, they stepped into the muddy water with plenty of mangrove trees. They groaned in annoyance. "Who would want to live in here?" Zhong Fen complained.

"For an Amphibianoid, yes," Kun Zhen replied.

The groans of Yong Gang and Yu Juan could be heard as the paralysis effect wore off. "What the-" Yong Gang blurted out.

"Where are we?" Yu Juan asked tiredly.

"The Big Great Marshlands," Zhong Fen answered, "you two can go on your own." She placed them on their feet into the muddy water.

"Hope you two don't mind the dirty water," Kun Zhen told them.

"Are you kidding me? I love getting dirty!" Yu Juan exclaimed happily.

"I don't mind, actually," Yong Gang replied calmly.

"Good," Kun Zhen blurted out and they proceeded their journey. They continued until Yong Gang spotted a poorly built shelter. It was built with mangrove tree branches and old clothes.

"Is that... a shelter?" he questioned as he pointed at it.

"I think so. It looks poorly built," Yu Juan replied.

"Maybe that is where he lives. Let's go!" Kun Zhen said and they moved toward the shelter. When they approached the shelter, they found that it was empty.

"There's nobody here," Yu Juan blurted out.

"That is the point," a male voice chipped in. The sound of a blaster being activated could be heard from behind. The heroes turned around and saw the Amphibianoid, who was pointing his bow blaster at them. His MakoBreaker slug growled at them. The heroes raised their hands to surrender.

"You four have come to arrest me?" the Amphibianoid asked.

"Arrest? No, we just want to talk," Kun Zhen corrected him.

"Talk? Underlords don't talk. They just capture any rebels and punish them," he told them.

"We are not Underlords," Zhong Fen explained.

"And for me..." Kun Zhen's Thugglet slug came out and wore out her outfit illusion, "I am just in disguise. I am with the good guys."

"Good guys?" he questioned while deactivating his blaster. "Nobody ever consider me as a good guy."

"I know. I heard what the man said about you," Kun Zhen said.

"That is because of who I am. An Amphibianoid."

"Oh, yeah. Amphibianoids are infamous for being pirates, brutal and aggressive. Nobody likes them," Yu Juan blurted out but was elbowed by Kun Zhen. "Hey! I was just telling the truth!"

"It is true, but it seems that this guy wants a second chance," Kun Zhen told her.

"How do you know?" he asked her, feeling quite surprised.

"I can hear your tone of voice. You feel sad and guilty," she stated.

"Oh..." he avoided her gaze.

"Let me guess, you ran away from your family to start a new life?" she guessed.

"Uh... yeah," he answered, "I am the son of an infamous pirate."

"Who is your father?" Zhong Fen questioned.

"Captain Hai Feng," he answered.

"Captain Hai Feng?!" the heroes were shocked.

"He is the most brutal, most aggressive, and most successful pirate that has ever lived!" Yu Juan stated.

"And he is your... father?!" Yong Gang could not believe it!

"Yes..." he stammered, "I witnessed his brutality on my best friend and his family. He declared war on them for a little matter on slugs. He took out all of his powerful cannons and destroyed their ships completely. I think he had killed them... including their slugs... and my best friend. I could not bear to follow his footsteps. So, I ran away. I fled from my family and freed all of the slugs that we stole. I wanted to start a new life, but nobody wants me to be in their cavern. They think that I want to rob their possessions. I am not welcome in any caverns, so I decide to live right here."

"I think you are very brave right there, when facing us and the Stone Warriors. And your slugslinging skills are amazing," Kun Zhen praised him.

"Thank you. I learn them from my father," he said.

"I see, we need people like you to join us. To fight against the Emperor and his army."

"Hey, Kun Zhen! Are you sure about this? He is the son of the greatest pirate in history!" Yu Juan reminded Kun Zhen.

"It is okay. I believe that he really wanted to change. He really wants this second chance," Kun Zhen said. She turned to the Amphibianoid and asked, "What is your name?"

"Hai Chang," he answered.

"Well, Hai Chang. Welcome to the rebellion," Kun Zhen announced.

His eyes gleamed in joy and tears. "I... don't know what to say..." he blurted out.

"Just say 'yes'," she said.

"...Thank you... for giving me this... second chance," he stammered and tears began to flow out of his eyes.

* * *

Okay, next hint: scavenger in the desert.


	8. Helping A Survivor

" _I am a survivor, and I make my decisions." - Suxiong Jian_

 **Helping A Survivor**

Kun Zhen, once again in her Underlord disguise, and her Stone Warriors, were heading to the West region of the Eastern Caverns. "Okay, we are heading to Treasure Cavern," Kun Zhen informed her friends through her earpiece.

"Treasure Cavern? Is there any treasure there? Like gold and jewelry?" Hai Chang questioned, but he tried not to sound excited.

"Well... on the contrary, it is a huge junkyard cavern," Zhong Fen explained.

"Junkyard? So much for a 'Treasure Cavern'," Yu Juan said sarcastically.

"You know what they say, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'," Yong Gang defended.

"Yup. We usually go into junkyards to make modifications for our blasters and mechas," Zhong Fen added.

"Why not just buy them?" Yu Juan asked.

"Many Underlords have taken over caverns, especially those that are involved in mining and business. They exploit their minerals and money for themselves and the Emperor," Zhong Fen explained.

"To purchase the minerals or any items, the buyer must go through the permission of the Underlords, and we don't like it. That is why we go to the junkyards. They are free, and we know how to turn them into useful things," Yong Gang added.

"Okay, okay, I have heard all of them. Very interesting," Kun Zhen chipped in. "But we are not going to collect scrap metal, we are going to investigate this news."

"A bounty for catching a rebel in Treasure Cavern. Sounds interesting," Hai Chang blurted out.

"We will get more information once we get there," Kun Zhen stated, "just prepare more water. That place is a desert region."

It took them an hour or two to reach the entrance of Treasure Cavern. There were quite a diverse species gathered in front of a booth.

"Do you see that, guys?" Kun Zhen asked her friends through her earpiece.

"Yes," Zhong Fen replied. She and the others were following Kun Zhen carefully from behind. She saw the scene using her binoculars.

"What is happening there?" Zhong Fen asked Kun Zhen through her earpiece.

"I don't know. But we better find out why," Kun Zhen replied and came down from her mecha.

A pair of yellow cat-like eyes stared at Kun Zhen. The figure who wielded those eyes revealed to be an Octoad. He had dark blue skin and an orange shell. He wielded four powerful rifle blasters and many bandoliers. "Well, well, looks like an Underlord also want to earn this bounty," he stated as he came out from the booth.

"The name's Underlord Kun Zhen," Kun Zhen introduced herself.

"Boss Hubert, the ruler of Treasure Cavern," the Octoad introduced.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"One of my favourite customers refused to sell his Knighton to me! I plan to reward him with plenty of gold and food for his rare slug, but he refused! He treats it like his filthy pet!" Hubert spat out some saliva while he complained.

"And that's why he set up the bounty for anyone who can catch him!" a Reptile said. He had green eyes and skin. He wore a rusty brown armour, black knee pads and gloves, and an orange helmet with a bulb in front of it. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 3 slug tubes. Two bandoliers that could carry 5 slug tubes each were attached on both sides of his helmet. Two more bandoliers were strapped across his shoulders to his chest, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. He also wore two bandoliers on his upper legs: left side could carry 2 slug tubes while the right side could carry 3. His rusty gun blaster was on his dark brown belt.

"And no Underlords like you would take the bounty away!" a human girl with a skunk tail added. She was a Skunk Faunus. She had short black hair with thick white stripes all over it, black eyes and fair skin. She wore black and white armour, gloves and knee pads. She wore a bandolier that was strapped on her chest, carrying 4 slug tubes. Another bandolier was strapped around her waist as a belt, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. Two bandoliers that were wrapped around her upper arms like accessories could carry 4 slug tubes each. One more bandolier that could carry two slug tubes was worn on her upper left leg. A black and white rifle blaster was strapped on her back.

"And who are you two?" Kun Zhen questioned them.

"The name's Gable," the Reptile introduced.

"Mine is Zarola," the Skunk Faunus introduced.

"And you two... are gonna find that wanted person?" Kun Zhen asked again.

"That wanted person is Suxiong Jian," Gable said.

"And we know him better. So we will get that reward first!" Zarola exclaimed.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Gable asked Zarola. "I will get that reward first!"

"No, I am a better tracker than you!" Zarola protested.

"Hmm, looks like we have a competition," Hubert stated. "Whoever captures that boy first will be heavily rewarded!"

"What is the reward?" Kun Zhen asked.

"Two tonnes of gold, and a tonne of packaged and canned food," Hubert answered.

"I am gonna be rich!" Gable exclaimed and left first.

"No, I am!" Zarola shouted and left too.

There were a few other scavengers joining in too. Kun Zhen and her Stone Warriors marched into the junkyard. Her friends successfully sneaked in and were following her behind.

"Hmm... who is this... Suxiong Jian anyway?" Kun Zhen murmured to herself.

A scream was heard. Another scream came in too. And another.

"Guys! Do you hear those screams?" Kun Zhen questioned her friends through her earpiece.

"Yes, and we found... a Reptile and two humans got beaten up," Yong Gang informed her.

"Must be the rebel. Come on!" she stated. She sped up and so did her Stone Warriors.

All of the sudden, a shot was fired and a Hop Rock was flying toward the Stone Warriors. It knocked off one of its heads, defeating it and leaving it lifeless. She spotted a figure from a pile of trash and the figure quickly ran away.

"After that figure!" she commanded her remaining four Stone Warriors.

Meanwhile, Zarola was searching her target. A figure zoomed pass her, startling her. She held her rifle blaster tight and followed the figure close. When she saw the figure stopped his tracks, she fired her Flatulorhinkus but he moved away, dodging its attacks.

"I have found you," she whispered evilly.

On the other side, Gable was sprinting around the paths. He stopped his tracks abruptly when a figure passed by him. He ran to the direction where the figure ran. When he spotted the figure, he shot his Rammstone toward him. However, he also moved away and the Rammstone ended up hitting some metal down, startling some Stone Rats.

As the three slingers traveled the paths, they all ended up in a clear land, where there was only a mountain of scrap metal. The figure revealed himself. He was a 17 years old human teenager. He had shoulder-length brown hair that was tied into a bun, a pair of hazel eyes and a tanned skin. He wore a chestnut armour, an ebony belt, a pair of light brown knee pads and gloves. A bandolier was strapped on his chest, carrying 3 slug tubes. Two bandoliers were strapped across his shoulders to his chest, where both sides contained 6 slug tubes each. Another bandolier that carried four slug tubes was strapped around his waist. His blaster, a black-brown blaster staff, was strapped behind his back.

"You are trapped, Suxiong Jian!" Gable yelled and aimed his blaster at the figure.

"There is no way to run now!" Zarola exclaimed and aimed her rifle blaster at the slinger.

The slinger held a slug tube with an Xmitter inside. They nodded to each other. He loaded it into his blaster staff and slung it to the air. It used _Jambler_ and it released an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) blast. The blast scrambled all the electrical energy in the junkyard and shorted everything out, including blasters. However, the cannons of the Stone Warriors were still able to work thanks to dark magic. They fired their slugs on the slinger but he managed to escape.

"It seems that the Stone Warriors are not effected by the Xmitter's slug," Kun Zhen informed her friends through her earpiece. She and her Stone Warriors chased the culprit.

"Cheater!" Zarola and Gable yelled furiously and tried to shoot their slugs. Their blasters did not work due to the effect of the Xmitter. "Darn it!"

As Kun Zhen and her army followed the slinger, they looked around the surroundings. A clash was heard and a mountain of scrap metal crashed onto the Stone Warriors. Fortunately, Kun Zhen avoided the crash. She decided to abandon her Stone Warriors and proceeded the chase by her own.

The slinger was spying on her. He had a Tazerling on his palm and he threw it upwards. Using his blaster staff as a bat, he hit the slug and now it was flying toward Kun Zhen. The Tazerling reached velocity, and using _Tazerwing_ , it shot lightning from its horns. Luckily she dodged the attack.

"Man, he's good..." she murmured.

Then, the slinger hit his Hop Rock and it almost hit her! She was lucky again to avoid its attack, but she wished her blaster could function again. "Stop! I am not here to hurt you!" she shouted.

"Liar! You have come for me for the reward!" the voice boomed.

"No! Please! Let me explain..." she begged.

The slinger jumped down and landed in front of her. In one swipe of his blaster staff, he knocked her off of her feet. He pointed one end of his blaster on her chest, and a Tazerling that was inside the slug tube smirked at her.

"Now you may explain," he told her.

"Explain what?" Zarola questioned as she and Gable found him.

"3... 2... 1," he whispered to himself. The fusion core of his blaster staff lighted up and activated again. He speedily shot his Tormato from the other side of his blaster. Using _Slyphoon_ , it spun around Gable and Zarola. They were carried away by the rampaging twister.

" _Now_ you may explain," he told Kun Zhen again.

"Okay, I am not really an Underlord, I am a spy who help the heroes and recruit members," Kun Zhen explained.

"Oh, really?" he sounded suspicious.

"I am telling the truth." Her Thugglet hopped onto her chest and wore off the illusion.

"What? But what about the Stone Warriors?" he asked her. The Stone Warriors finally came out of the rubble and looked aggressive when they saw him.

"Oh. Them?" she questioned back. To his surprise, the four Stone Warriors exploded and revealed four slingers behind them.

"You are against the Emperor?" she asked him.

"I am against anyone who exploits people," he answered.

"Then you can join us. To fight against the Emperor," she ordered him.

He hesitated the order. "What do you think, guys?" he asked his Tazerling, Xmitter and Sand Angler. They nodded in agreement.

"Since they say 'yes', then I will join your team," he replied.

"Good, welcome to the team, uh... your name is Suxiong Jian?" Kun Zhen questioned for confirmation.

"Yes," the slinger answered.

"Wait, you can talk to slugs?" Yu Juan was surprised.

"Yes, since I was very young, my parents left me under the care of Boss Hubert. My Tazerling, Xmitter and Sand Angler are the ones who took care of me in the first place. My interaction with them enables me to understand and talk to slugs," Suxiong Jian explained.

"That is so cool!" Zhong Fen exclaimed.

"So... now what? We cannot let Boss Hubert know that we take him with us as heroes," Yong Gang reminded Kun Zhen.

"Wait, you guys are going to take me away? Oh, no... I will prefer to stay here," Suxiong Jian said.

"What the- Hey! Your pathetic boss wanted you gone for good! Out of his sight!" Yu Juan was angry now.

"My parents left me here, and I believe that they will come back to fetch me home," he explained.

"Come back? You fool! They already left you with that terrible Octoad under his care! They don't even care about you!" she argued.

"No, they still love me! My slugs told me that they left me with him was strictly business. They promised that they will come back to take me home," he told her.

"Okay, stop it!" Kun Zhen yelled and turned to Suxiong Jian. "Look, Suxiong... your life is at stake here. Your boss is determined to take you out of the Treasure Cavern at all cost. And instead staying here waiting for your parents to come, why not come with us and join us in adventures? That way you can find them much easier, and explore the world."

"Hmm... what do you think, guys?" he asked his three slugs again. They hesitated but eventually nodded and smiled.

"They are in, and so do I!" he replied.

"Good, now, here's the plan..." Kun Zhen whispered to him.

* * *

Back in the booth, Boss Hubert was waiting impatiently. "What's taking them so long?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, Kun Zhen, who was wearing her Underlord outfit again, appeared with Suxiong Jian, whose hands were tied up with the web of an Arachnet. "I have captured him, Mr. Hubert," Kun Zhen announced. "He was a tough kid, and he had destroyed all of my Stone Warriors. But I still managed to defeat him and catch him."

"Excellent job, Underlord Kun Zhen," Boss Hubert praised her. "Here's your reward." As promised, he gave her three carts that contained two tonnes of gold and a tonne of packaged and canned food. "Oh, and to make up your time and damages to your Stone Warriors, I will pay you extra." He then gave her one more tonne of gold in a cart.

"Thank you. I will bring this rebel to the Emperor for punishment," she said and locked the carts of gold and food with lids. She then used chains to lock them at the back of her mecha-beast. As for Suxiong Jian, she commanded her Arachnet to wrap him up completely and placed him on her mecha.

"Oh, and did you get me his Knighton slug?" he questioned her.

"Hey, that is not stated in the contract," she defended.

"Oh, it _is_ now!" he snickered.

"Fine. What's the reward?" she demanded a good reply.

"5000 gold coins," he offered.

She hesitated the offer. "Hey, raise the price, Kun Zhen!" Yu Juan advised her through her earpiece.

"Oh, and add it with the Vitalis Crystal! I heard that those light blue crystals can be found in junkyards as air fresheners. And they are very rare nowadays," Zhong Fen added.

Taking her friends' advice, she made a counter offer. "How about 10000 gold coins and an air freshener?"

"Why would you even need an air freshener?" he questioned her back.

"The cavern I govern is a mess and it stinks. As an Underlord, I deserve better," she explained.

"Good point there. Which air freshener do you want?"

"The one with a light blue crystal inside."

The Octoad went to his stash and returned with a rusted casing. Inside the casing, there was a light blue crystal.

"You mean this air freshener?" he asked her.

"Oh yes. This is what I want. It is the rarest of them all. And since I have helped you to do your dirty work, I should be rewarded greatly," she answered.

"Alright then, here's your air freshener, and your 10000 gold coins," he said as he placed a heavy bag on the wooden table. Kun Zhen took a look inside the bag and there were indeed many gold coins.

"Thank you. And here's his Knighton slug," she said as she handed him the rare Knighton slug. One of his tentacles caught it.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Hubert," she blurted out and rode her vehicle hurriedly.

Boss Hubert then carried the Knighton to his storeroom filled with slugs that were caged. There were a few shelves. Three shelves were labeled as "Common". There were many Hop Rocks, Grenukes, Flaringos, Tormatos, Tazerlings, Phosphoros, Sand Anglers, Dirt Urchins, Gazzers and Slicksilvers in the cages. The fourth shelf was labeled as "Uncommon". In this shelf, there were Flatulorhinkus and Xmitter slugs in cages. The fifth and last shelf was labeled as "Rare" and it was empty. Boss Hubert locked the Knighton inside a cage and placed it on that shelf. He laughed evilly as he left the room.

However, after he closed the door, a red flash emitted from the Knighton slug, revealing it to be a Flopper slug!

* * *

Well, this chapter is longer than the chapter about Dong Song.

Oh, I also applied some contract law inside here.

And one more thing, I remember the request for a member to be raised by slugs. Well, here it is!

Anyway, the next chapter will finally introduce the last member (or second last member if you want) of Team Phoenix. Hint: Nature girl.


	9. The Claimed Phoenix

" _I am a warrior, like my father before me." - Rong Chun_

 **The Claimed Phoenix**

In Daqing Cavern, the miners were loading up Auroris Crystals into carts. "Good. With these many crystals, the Emperor will accept this gift," Kun Zhen stated.

"Are you sure about this, Kun Zhen?" Zhong Fen asked her. "Are you really going to give the Emperor these Auroris Crystals?"

"Yeah, can't you use your Thugglet to create illusions? Or maybe give him fake Auroris Crystals?" Yu Juan suggested.

"I can't. The Emperor will eventually find out the truth. As if he does, I will be in trouble as my true affiliation will be revealed," Kun Zhen explained.

"So... we are just going to rob your truck filled with these crystals then?" Yong Gang questioned.

"Not just mine, but others too," she corrected him.

"Wait, won't that make us wanted by the Underlords and the Emperor?" Hai Chang asked.

"The Emperor and the Underlords are already well-aware by the presence of rebels. For example, the Outlaws led by Hamengku, who was the friend of the Eastern Champion. Plus, nobody ever saw us with Kun Zhen, so she won't be the suspect," Zhong Fen explained.

"How do you know all about this?" Suxiong Jian questioned her.

"My father was a warrior before. He trained my brothers and I all that he knew," she answered.

"Lucky you! In my cavern, only the males have power. I left my home because I cannot take on their patriarchal system!" Yu Juan exclaimed.

Kun Zhen saw the miners had finished loading up the crystals into a truck. "They are done now. Now let's bring that truck to the other trucks."

* * *

Kun Zhen was driving two bull mecha-beasts while pulling the truck loaded with Auroris Crystals. She was in her Underlord disguise again. She arrived at a station where three other trucks were parked there too. Her vehicle came to a halt as she parked her truck close to the others.

"Good day, huh, Little Kun?" a man with a huge stature and muscular arms greeted her in a thick Russian accent. His skin was tanned and his hair was brownish red. He also had a thick mustache and beard.

"Yeah, good day, Jonny Man," she greeted him back, but her tone was not so sincere. "And please, don't call me 'Little Kun'. I am 19 and officially an adult."

"You are still consider as a kid, Kun. You are only a young adult," Jonny Man corrected her.

"Hey, Jonny Boy!" another man greeted him. This man looked younger, shorter and thinner than Jonny Man. His skin was fair and his hair was brown with a streak styled to stand upright.

"Hey, Swick! Have you met Underlord Kun Zhen?" Jonny Man introduced him to Kun Zhen. She smiled as a greeting.

"Oh, hi!" Swick greeted her.

"Hello," she spoke.

"You know, have you ever realized that there are very few female Underlords?" Swick asked Jonny Man. "The main one is the Dai-Fu, who gives us the creeps!" The name reminded Kun Zhen the first Underlord that she met when she joined them. "Another one was an Elf, who has such dark skin. And another is quite old. And... I think that's all."

"Well, I think the Underlords need some... diversity?" Kun Zhen blurted out.

"That is a good suggestion there," Swick agreed.

"Thank you," she thanked him.

"No problem," he said. Seeing Jonny Man had left, he added, "And you look pretty for an Underlord."

"Oh... uh... thanks," she replied and resisted to blush. He winked at her before he followed his friend.

"Really, Kun Zhen?" Yu Juan complained through her earpiece. "Keep your head in the game!"

"Yes, I am, Yu Juan. Please stop complaining," Kun Zhen shushed her.

She walked along with Swick and Jonny Man in an attempt to blend in. She spotted another Underlord, who was on his chicken mecha-beast. His skin was slightly darker, his eyes were light blue, and he was blonde. He was also wearing a mask.

"Who is that guy?" Kun Zhen questioned.

"That is Sleade," Swick introduced.

"You talking about me?" Sleade suddenly asked Swick while on his mecha.

"He's like that," Swick whispered to her.

"You talking about me?" Sleade appeared behind them, scaring them.

"The train is coming soon," Jonny Man announced.

"What is the estimated time arrival?" Zhong Fen asked Kun Zhen through her earpiece.

Kun Zhen checked the train timetable on her tablet. "20 minutes," she murmured.

"Okay, ready in position!" Zhong Fen replied.

None of the Underlords noticed the presence of a slugslinger behind the trucks. She was a 14 years old human teenager. She had black hair that was tied into two braids, brown eyes and a slightly tanned skin. She wore a green armour that had black bamboo patterns on it, light green elbow pads and gloves, and a dark green belt. She had a bandolier strapped on her chest, which could carry 4 slug tubes. Another bandolier that carried 10 more slug tubes was strapped around her waist. She carried a bow behind her.

The box was made with bamboo, while the string was a strong and elastic rubber. The middle of the bow was a cylindrical tube that was also made out with bamboo. Inside, there was an empty slug tube and its base was attached with rubber that was connected to the string used for firing ammo.

She climbed onto one of the trucks, and stared at Jonny Man. She took out her bow and a Negashade went inside the slug tube. She pulled the string to pull the slug tube backwards. Then, she released it, sending her Negashade flying toward Jonny Man. It transformed into a black bull with cyan markings on its head. It used _Shadowblak_ and created a thick black fog around Jonny Man. She then shot her Vinedrill and it collided with the ground in front of Jonny Man. Vines grew up and tangled him.

"Intruder!" Jonny Man yelled. The slinger slung her Dirt Urchin and using _Needlepatch_ , it exploded in front of Kun Zhen and Swick. Kun Zhen managed to dodge the attack by hiding behind her truck. Swick was unfortunate to be pricked by the needles attack all over his body.

Sleade noticed her and slung his Rammstone toward the intruder. She shot her Firenzar and it transformed into a red dragon with yellow wings attached to its arms. It defeated the Rammstone with one strike and surrounded Sleade with a ring of fire that burned him.

"Rebel spotted! I repeat! Rebel spotted!" Kun Zhen said into her earpiece.

Once the sentence was said, Yong Gang and Yu Juan jumped down from a giant mushroom. Hai Chang and Suxiong Jian jumped down from a tall tree. Zhong Fen came in from the bushes. They started shooting their slugs.

"More intruders!" Jonny Man shouted and broke free from the vines. He loaded his powerful rifle blaster. "Fire!" The Underlords began to fire their slugs, and so did their Stone Warriors. Kun Zhen tried her best not to hurt her friends.

All of the heroes except for the mysterious slinger fired their Hop Rocks, clashing onto the slugs shot by the Underlords and Stone Warriors. Swick slung his Tormato and it created a tornado. Zhong Fen shot her Rammstone and it defeated the Tormato, stopping the twister.

"Get those trucks out of here before the train arrives!" Zhong Fen commanded. Her friends nodded.

Yong Gang held the first truck, that belonged to Jonny Man. He started the engines of the mecha-beasts. To prevent him from escaping with the truck, Jonny Man fired his Tazerling toward him. Yong Gang slung his Lavalynx and it defeated the Tazerling with ease. Jonny dodged the collision from the Lavalynx. Yong Gang quickly drove the truck out.

The mysterious slinger slung her Dirt Urchin toward Sleade, but his Slicksilver was able to defend itself from the spikes due to its hard armour. It projected a magnetic field from its tail as it flew toward her. Though, there was no effect on her since her bow was not made of metal. Despite so, Yu Juan's blaster was affected and it was carried to the air and landed on the other side.

"My blaster!" Yu Juan shouted and ran to retrieve her weapon. A Stone Warrior spotted her and shot a Thrasher. Zhong Fen noticed it and slung her Frostcrawler. It used _Deepfreeze_ and froze the Thrasher, forcing it to stop its spinning motion and fell down.

Yu Juan grabbed her blaster and fired a Grenuke toward the Stone Warrior who almost killed her. The Grenuke held onto its chest. Once the fuse burnt out, the slug exploded, destroying the Stone Warrior!

Suxiong Jian was standing on top of the second truck, that belonged to Swick. While Hai Chang activated the mechas and began to drive. Swick shot his Grenuke toward him. Suxiong Jian came down and used his blaster staff to knock the slug back to its owner. Swick ran off before it could hit him. It exploded on impact with the ground.

"Everyone! Get hold of the mechas!" Suxiong Jian shouted.

Zhong Fen nodded and slung her AquaBeek toward Sleade. The jet of water knocked him off of his mecha. She went to activate the mechas of the third truck, which belonged to Sleade. Seeing she was about to steal his supplies for the Emperor, he shot his Tazerling. Kun Zhen fired her Speedstinger and it bounced off the truck and knocked off the Tazerling.

"Sorry! I was aiming at her! Blame on my bad aim!" Kun Zhen apologized to Sleade. Zhong Fen sighed in relief and started to drive.

Three Stone Warriors slung a Hop Jack, a Grimmstone and an Amperling toward the heroes. The mysterious slinger, who was standing on the fourth truck, fired her White Boon Doc. It used _Healray_ and emitted a powerful white light ray. The ray hit the corrupted slugs, turning them back to a Hop Rock, a Rammstone and a Tazerling.

Yu Juan went onto the bull mecha-beasts that pulled the fourth truck. She started the engines. "Yu Juan! You are too young to drive!" Zhong Fen warned her since she was only 11 years old.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she yelled back and began to drive.

"You guys deal with the Stone Warriors! I will deal with the Underlords!" Hai Chang told them. He fired his Hypnogrif. It transformed into a hawk without wings. It was yellow and blue, with pink bulls-eye shaped eyes. It performed _Vertigoad_ as it hit Jonny Man and Swick. They were overwhelmed by vertigo and warped perspective, which made them difficult to see or shoot. Seeing them in a vulnerable state, he shot his Neotox and it sprayed a toxic cloud onto them. Their skins turned green and they were paralyzed.

Zhong Fen, Yu Juan and Suxiong Jian slung a Grenuke, an Armashelt and a Knighton toward five Stone Warriors. The Knighton shot out lances from its mouth, and most of them pierced through two Stone Warriors, defeating them. The Grenuke held onto one of its head and exploded, making it lifeless. The Armashelt crashed onto another one on its chest, destroying it too. Leaving only one behind, the mysterious slinger shot her Vinedrill onto it and entangled it with vines. Yu Juan took this opportunity and fired her Hop Rock on it, destroying it with an explosion.

Hai Chang aimed at Sleade and slung his Hexlet. Once it hit him, it used _HyJinx_ and a string of bad luck was on him now. He tried to shoot his slug but his blaster broke. He then proceeded to chase the heroes but his chicken mecha broke down! He tried to run but he tripped over a stone and fell down hard!

A corrupted slug flew past Zhong Fen's head and she found out that there were still three more Stone Warriors attacking them. She and Yu Juan shot their Threshers and they sawed two Stone Warriors into half. Suxiong Jian fired his Sand Angler on the last Stone Warrior. It collided with the ground below the Stone Warrior. A patch of quicksand was created and it sank into it until to its upper waist. He then slung his Tazerling and it clung onto the trapped opponent. It shocked it repeatedly and the head of the Stone Warrior blasted off of its neck, turning it lifeless.

"Go! Full speed!" Zhong Fen commanded and the heroes drove away with the stolen trucks in full speed.

Kun Zhen slung her Geoshard toward them. It spat out a blast and it hit the ground. Yellow-green crystals grew out from the area of impact instantaneously. However, the heroes already escaped and the crystals only managed to block the way for the Underlords to chase them.

"Great! You blocked the path for us to chase those rebels!" Jonny Man scolded her after he regained conscious.

"Sorry," she apologized.

* * *

As night came, Kun Zhen returned to her cavern. She and the other Underlords had a hard time because the rebels had stolen all of their supplies. She went deep into the woods, which was located deep in Daqing Cavern. She saw her friends were opening the trucks to check on the goods that they stole.

"Okay, Auroris Crystals from Daqing Cavern, obviously," Yu Juan said.

"Firewood from Smudge Vapor Cavern," Yong Gang said after opening Jonny Man's truck.

"Tons of pure gold from Altai Cavern," Hai Chang told them what was inside Swick's truck.

"And many logs from Siberian Sneg Cavern," Zhong Fen concluded.

"Alright, now we just need to distribute them for the needy," Kun Zhen told them.

"The needy? Who are you people?" the mysterious slinger asked. She had been following them all along.

"We are a team of heroes who fight against the Emperor," Zhong Fen explained.

"And I am one of them, disguising an Underlord," Kun Zhen added. Her Thugglet reverted to her true appearance.

"Oh, wow," the slinger blurted out.

"What is your name?" Kun Zhen asked her.

"Rong Chun," she introduced, "and I am the Phoenix."

Everyone was shocked. "The Phoenix?" Yong Gang questioned.

"The Phoenix is mentioned in the Prophecy as a mystical bird and a female slugslinger. The Second Chosen One, who can overthrow the Emperor," Zhong Fen explained.

"Is it true that you are the Phoenix?" Yu Juan asked Rong Chun in a skeptical manner.

"Yes," Rong Chun answered, "my father was a warrior who fought along with the Eastern Champion... until he was killed by the Dark Slinger. My mother died of heartbreak and I ended up living with my grandmother. She told me about the Prophecy."

"Since her father was a warrior, I think she really is the Phoenix," Kun Zhen told her friends.

"But that will mean that she must be the leader of the team," Yu Juan reminded her.

"That's okay. I allow her to be the leader since there is no leader in the team currently. Plus, we can all help her in many ways," she replied.

"Speaking about team, what is the name of our team?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"Hmm... what do you think, Rong Chun?" she asked the newly appointed leader.

"Team Phoenix. We need to lift the hope of the people that the Second Chosen One has arisen from the ashes," Rong Chun stated.

"Hmm, good one. From this day onward, we should be called as 'Team Phoenix'," Kun Zhen announced.

"I like that name!" Zhong Fen cheered, and so did the other heroes.

* * *

Okay, some word knowledge: Sneg means "snow" in Russian, while Altai means "gold" in Mongolian. Both caverns are from the North Region of the Eastern Caverns.

So... seven members, but do you know how they recruit Wei Cheng and Dong Song? Find out in the next chapter: Path to Safety!


	10. Path to Safety

" _This is how we officially began our fight against the Emperor." - Team Phoenix_

 **Path to Safety**

It was early morning and the heroes had woken up. Zhong Fen went to make breakfast while Yong Gang helped to set up a flame using his Flaringo and some firewood stolen from Jonny Man. Kun Zhen was checking something on her tablet. Yu Juan and Suxiong Jian were doing some exercises. Rong Chun was cleaning her bow with a wet cloth.

"Hey, has anyone seen Hai Chang?" Zhong Fen questioned. "I have not seen him since morning."

"No, he wakes up way earlier than us," Yong Gang answered.

"Hmm... I hope he is okay," she blurted out.

"Hi, guys!" a voice called out. It was Hai Chang. He was wearing his slugslinger outfit, and he was carrying a long basket behind him.

"Hai Chang! Where have you been?" Zhong Fen asked him.

"I have gone fishing," he replied, "I have caught plenty of fish!" He showed her and Yong Gang what was inside the basket. It was filled with fishes!

"Wow, these fishes can supply us for a day or two, depending on our consumption," Zhong Fen commented.

"Talking about consumption, I remember Rong Chun has requested a vegetarian breakfast for herself," Yong Gang said.

"Wait, Rong Chun is a vegetarian?" she was surprised.

"Yes," he answered, "no meat, no eggs. Just vegetables, fruits and beans."

"Wow. I was planning to cook some noodles with meat and eggs," she said as she was about to throw noodles into a big pot. The water inside was boiling.

"How about a special bowl with vegetables? I just got some vegetables from Kun Zhen's mother," he suggested.

"I can help you to chop the vegetables," Hai Chang volunteered.

"Sure," Yong Gang replied with a smile.

Half an hour later, Zhong Fen called out the others, "Breakfast is ready!"

They gathered around the fireplace. Rong Chun tried to stay away from the fire as far as possible. Yong Gang passed a bowl of noodles with vegetables to her.

"Special order for our vegetarian Phoenix!" Yong Gang stated playfully.

"Please do not insult me because I am a vegetarian," she growled.

Zhong Fen poured the noodles into the bowls that Hai Chang and Yong Gang handed to her. Each bowl contained fine noodles, soup, meat and egg. The remaining members had a bowl. They used chopsticks and spoons to eat.

"Just a remainder, wherever we are outside the safe zone, we can only use branches or bamboo as chopsticks, and if there's soup, drink it from the bowl," Zhong Fen told them.

"Don't care about manners when you want to survive," Hai Chang added.

"Though it is better to bring some light food along," Yong Gang suggested.

"Best not to use the fire often..." Rong Chun muttered and a terrified expression was shown on her face when she stared at the fire.

"Wait, you are afraid of... fire?" Yong Gang was shocked. He was the master of fire slugs and loved the heat. Plus, living in Hong Huoshan Cavern, which was a quite dangerous volcanic cavern, he was pretty much used to the heat.

"...Yeah..." she answered as she avoided his gaze.

"But you have a Firenzar slug, a rare fire element slug," he stated.

"I lived in Bamboo Forest Cavern, that's why I have one," she answered, "but I am scared... and I wanted to give it to someone else..." Her Firenzar looked confused.

"How about you give it to me? I love fire element slugs. I promise to take care of him well," he suggested.

"Really?" She was smiling.

"Yes." He nodded.

The Firenzar was chirping happily. "Okay then," Rong Chun replied and handed the rare fire slug to Yong Gang. It looked more cheerful when it was with the boy of fire.

Zhong Fen noticed that Kun Zhen was still reading something from her tablet. "Hey, Kun, what are you reading?" Zhong Fen asked her.

"I am picking up some news that are about citizens disappearing across the Eastern Caverns," Kun Zhen answered.

"Disappearing?" Suxiong Jian was shocked.

"Chinjeol Cavern, Heaven's Pillar Cavern, Rabota Cavern, Miyako Cavern, Shinrin Kenko Cavern, Dhanee Cavern, Smudge Vapor Cavern..." she listed down.

"Oh wow... that is a lot," Yu Juan blurted out.

"Did everyone in those caverns disappeared completely?" Hai Chang questioned.

"No, but there has been an increase in people disappearing, and the Underlords noticed it and reported it," Kun Zhen explained.

"Do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing?" Zhong Fen asked.

"I don't know. But we better find out," Kun Zhen answered.

* * *

"So... how are we going to catch the culprit?" Yu Juan questioned as they gathered their slugs and blasters after breakfast.

"She is right. As you have stated, it happens in a few caverns and we are not sure which will happen next," Yong Gang agreed.

"Well, it seems that these disappearances happen in caverns that are conquered by Underlords," Kun Zhen stated.

"So... you mean we need to sneak into those caverns?" Hai Chang guessed.

"I am afraid so," she replied.

"But wait, you are an Underlord. Do you think your cavern can happen that too?" Zhong Fen noted.

"Yeah! We can just stay here and wait till the kidnapper appears!" Yu Juan thought the idea was great.

"No, as I have said, this can happen anywhere. It is best that we split up into different caverns and wait for the culprit to come out," Kun Zhen advised.

"But that is too dangerous if we are all separated!" Rong Chun exclaimed.

"Not if all of us hide very well," she answered.

"But if we see the culprit, what should we do? You can't expect each of us to follow the culprit all day. And what if we lost track of him?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"We can use tracking devices on Jellyish slugs. When we see him, we just shoot our Jellyish slugs to attach the tracking device on him," she explained.

"But not all of us have a Jellyish," Yu Juan stated, seeing only two Jellyish slugs that belonged to Zhong Fen and Hai Chang.

Zhong Fen was thinking deeply and suddenly, she got an idea. "Hey, how about one of us disguise as a person who wants help to escape under the rule of the Underlords. Kun Zhen can be an Underlord. That way we can easily keep track of him and find out where he is taking those people away," she suggested.

"That is a great idea, Zhong Fen!" Kun Zhen accepted the idea.

* * *

Wei Cheng and Dong Song were riding on their mecha-beasts. "The distress call is coming from Daqing Cavern," Wei Cheng stated.

"Daqing Cavern? That cavern mines Auroris Crystals," Dong Song said.

"That is exactly why there is an Underlord taking control of it," he explained, "better get ready to slug it out." Dong Song nodded.

As they were about to reach their destination, they heard slugs being fired. At the entrance, they saw an Underlord and a few Stone Warriors had cornered a defenseless girl. She was wearing a Cheongsam and was carrying a bag. A horrified expression was hanging on her face.

"Where do you think you are going, girl?!" Underlord Kun Zhen demanded as she pointed her blaster at her. "Trying to escape from my grasp?!"

Wei Cheng and Dong Song shot their Frostcrawlers and they froze two Stone Warriors that were standing between Kun Zhen. They proceeded to sling their Hop Rocks toward the frozen Stone Warriors and destroyed them.

"Intruder!" Kun Zhen yelled and shot her Armashelt at them. They both ran to opposite directions, causing the slug to hit on the ground.

"Attack!" she commanded. Her remaining two Stone Warriors started shooting their corrupted slugs toward them.

Wei Cheng fired his Rammstone toward his opponents but was defeated by Kun Zhen's Arachnet. He then shot his Flatulorhinkus toward her. However, she speedily hid behind the Stone Warriors before the stinker slug could hit her directly. Though, the stench made her nauseous. With the dirty fog as a distraction, Dong Song went to save the girl.

When the fog cleared off, she realized that the male slinger was gone. She came out of her hiding place and looked around. A shot was heard and she tilted her head up to see a Tazerling reached velocity. It shot out lightning but she managed to escape. She spotted the slinger on top of a huge fungus. He slung his Tormato and it quickly surrounded her and her Stone Warriors with strong gusts of wind. Dong Song, now with the girl holding him on his back firmly, fired his Frostcrawler toward the twister. Its icy breath froze the twister, trapping their opponents inside.

"Let's go!" Dong Song shouted and hurried to his vehicle. The slugs that were fired returned to them too. He slung his Hoverbug and it carried Wei Cheng down to his vehicle safely. It returned to its owner when he sat on his mecha, with the girl sitting behind him and holding his waist. They drove their mechas in full speed.

Realizing there was an opening on top of her, Kun Zhen used her Arachnet to get out thanks to its elastic string of web. "Turns out there is two people who are responsible with this," she muttered after landing on the ground. Her friends gathered around her.

"After them!" she commanded and almost all of them sat on their mechas. Rong Chun, on the other hand, used a Hoverbug to travel.

Though they were charging in full speed, Rong Chun was the first to reach Wei Cheng and Dong Song. Using her bamboo bow, she shot her Negashade toward them. It flew toward them and created a blinding black fog when it collided on the ground in front of them. Unfortunately, it didn't stop them from continuing their journey. Dong Song titled his head and saw Rong Chun, who was standing on top of her Hoverbug and aiming at them. She slung her Vinedrill toward him but he dodged it.

"We are under attack!" he told Wei Cheng.

"Then we must fight back!" Wei Cheng answered and shot his Tormato toward the Hoverbug. It blew a strong gust of wind, making the Hoverbug struggle to maintain its balance. Dong Song fired his Hiverphin and it curled into a spiky ice ball. It smashed onto the Hoverbug, which caused it to collapse onto the ground.

Another shot was fired and a Thresher was spinning toward them. It almost sliced Wei Cheng and he responded by slinging his Hop Rock toward the shooter, who was Zhong Fen. She drove her silver yak mecha-beast to escape the incoming explosive slug. Yong Gang shot his Flaringo toward them but Dong Song's Frostcrawler froze it.

Hai Chang slung his AquaBeek while Kun Zhen shot her Armashelt at them. Wei Cheng fired his Rammstone and it knocked the Armashelt off with its horns. Dong Song shot his Frostcrawler and it froze the water sent out by the AquaBeek and the water slug too.

"Although we are many, we still can't get close to them!" Kun Zhen stated.

"Let me use this Firenzar against them!" Yong Gang shouted and loaded his new fire slug into his rifle blaster. "Show them what you got!" He shot it and it reached velocity. Everyone except for Rong Chun was shocked to see it as a huge red dragon with yellow wings attached on its arms.

Dong Song slung his Narwhaddle, an ultra rare ice slug toward it. It transformed into a large icy blue fish with ice crystals as its tail and fins. Its head looked like a snowflake and there were three yellow crystals on its forehead.

The Narwhaddle sent out a large blast of frost in an attempt to put out the rare fire slug. However, the Firenzar flew upwards and avoided the attack. The rare fire slug sent out a powerful fireball and defeated the ice slug. It speedily spun around Wei Cheng and Dong Song. It created multiple fire rings to surround them. It successfully stopped them from moving. Kun Zhen slung her Geoshard and it collided on the ground under their feet. Yellow-green crystals grew around them, trapping them.

"You are all trapped!" Kun Zhen stated as she and her friends aimed their blasters at them.

"Not really," Dong Song corrected them and slung his Slyren upwards. It reached velocity and performed _Operattack_. It created a sound wave that shattered the Geoshard's crystals into pieces.

"I will stop them!" Suxiong Jian shouted as he saw them about to escape. He fired his Xmitter and using _Jambler_ , it released an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) blast that deactivated all electronics nearby. All of the mecha-beasts and blasters were shorted out.

"Oh great! Now how are we supposed to fight them with our blasters short out?" the little girl questioned angrily.

"Yu Juan!" Kun Zhen warned her.

"What?!" she yelled again.

"Wait, your name is Yu Juan... and that Underlord knows your name..." Wei Cheng realized.

"...Is this... a trap?" Dong Song aimed his bow blaster at Kun Zhen although it could not be used for the moment.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down..." Kun Zhen said as she raised her hands as a sign of surrender. "Let me explain..."

Before she could explain, a Vinedrill was shot and it transformed. It landed on the ground that Wei Cheng and Dong Song were standing. Vines grew out immediately and bound them up.

" _Now_ there is no way to escape," Rong Chun said as she appeared from behind her friends.

"How come she can fire her slugs?" the little girl asked.

"Because I use a bow, not a blaster," Rong Chun answered.

Kun Zhen stared at the little girl. The girl nodded. She removed her black wig and opened her bag, revealing her blaster, bandoliers and slugs. She put on the bandoliers and her slugs entered the slug tubes. She held her blaster with her right hand.

A Thugglet slug appeared on Kun Zhen's shoulder. Her body flashed in red, taking away her Underlord disguise. "Look, I am not an Underlord," she explained. "I am in disguise and my friends are heroes. The little girl is Yu Juan, the youngest member in our team."

"So... what team you guys are?" Dong Song asked.

"Team Phoenix," Zhong Fen replied.

They were shocked. "Team Phoenix? One of your teammates is the Phoenix?" Wei Cheng questioned.

"Yes, and I am the Phoenix, the leader of Team Phoenix," Rong Chun declared proudly.

"You do know that the Phoenix is a mystical fire bird, right?" he stated.

"Really?" Yong Gang questioned and began to think.

"So... you are all the... good guys?" Dong Song questioned them.

"Yes, and we found out that you two are taking people away. Why?" Kun Zhen was curious.

"We found a cavern that becomes a safe haven for the refugees. That is why we are saving people, so they will be saved from the Emperor," Wei Cheng explained.

"And where is this cavern?" Yu Juan demanded the answer.

"Cavern of the Last East," he answered.

"Hey, isn't Cavern of the Last East just a myth?" Hai Chang asked.

"It is a real cavern, in the Shadow Clan territory," he explained.

"Seriously?" Yu Juan blurted out.

"It is where Slug Fu Master Wu resides now," he added.

"Master Wu?" Zhong Fen became interested. "He is one of the greatest Slug Fu Masters ever lived."

"But I thought Slug Fu is dead ever since the Dark Slinger burnt down The Great Temple?" Yu Juan asked.

"Not really," Dong Song defended.

"You all should meet him," Wei Cheng told them.

"I will love to meet him!" Zhong Fen cheered.

"We can only go there if the Xmitter's effect wears off," Suxiong Jian as he patted his brown oryx mecha-beast.

"It should be gone anytime now," Yong Gang said as he sat on his blackbuck mecha. The others were on their vehicles, waiting for the effect to wear out.

All of the sudden, a howl echoed throughout the cavern. The heroes were startled by that.

"What was that?" Yu Juan questioned in fright.

"It is a howl of a wolf," Wei Cheng answered.

"That is not good, right?" Hai Chang guessed.

"Definitely," Dong Song stated firmly.

Within the thick bushes, there was a creature hiding inside. The creature appeared by jumping out of its hiding spot and gave them a deadly growl. It was the Alpha Beowolf!

"Oh my gosh! A huge wolf!" Zhong Fen screamed. Everyone prepared to fire their slugs. Their fusion cores lighted up. The effect of the Xmitter slug had worn out just in time. They shot out their slugs all at once. Wei Cheng's Thresher reached velocity first. It curled into a saw blade but it bounced off the chest of the Alpha Beowolf. It barely harmed it. Yu Juan's Hop Rock and Kun Zhen's Armashelt collided with it, causing two small explosion. Hai Chang's AquaBeek sent out a jet of water to it. Then, Zhong Fen's Rammstone collided with it. Dong Song's Frostcrawler sent out an icy blast while Yong Gang's Flaringo spat a fireball at it. Rong Chun's Dirt Urchin curled into a spiky ball and hit it. Suxiong Jian's Tazerling sent out a powerful lightning arc to shock it.

Despite with various attacks all at once, the slugs had no effect on the Alpha Beowolf. It growled furiously at them.

"Oh no..." Zhong Fen murmured.

As it was ready to attack them, a double spear fusion staff appeared out of nowhere. It struck the ground between the beast and the heroes. Then, a man appeared in a flash of dusts and picked up his blaster. He had a short thick black hair, dark brown eyes, and light skin. He wore a violet shirt, black coat with violet lining, black damage jeans with a chain belt, black and violet fingerless gloves, black and violet panther mask, and black boots. He had a bandolier that strapped on his chest, which could carry 3 slug tubes. He also carried a double spear fusion staff blaster quite similar to BoonX2 Master, a fusion staff and was called Double E.S.

Nobody knew who he was because he wore his panther mask. His eyes were the only visible part of his body.

The Alpha Beowolf growled at him. He turned his head to the heroes. "Go. Hide. I will handle the Grimm Monster," he told them.

They obeyed and hid behind a few big rocks and trees. The Mysterious Mask-Man twirled his blaster staff and pointed the Alpha Beowolf. He was ready to battle.

The Alpha Beowolf charged at him and tried to claw him. He blocked it with ease using his double spear blaster. He kicked it away very hard which caused it to fly across the field. That shocked the heroes very much.

However, the Alpha Beowolf was not giving up. It let out a raging roar and charged toward him again. When it reached him in a few inches, he quickly disappeared in a flash of dusts. It missed him. The heroes were surprised by his sudden disappearance.

"How does he do that?" Wei Cheng asked.

The Alpha Beowolf was surprised too when he disappeared. Then, the man reappeared behind it. He swung his blaster at it. It flew and hit a nearby tree.

It got up and growled at him. It let out a loud howl which caused the heroes to cover their ears except for the Mysterious Mask-Man. It had called fourth its pack of Beowolves, which they arrived the battlefield within a few seconds! The heroes were horrified but the man remained calm and did not feel panic.

All the Beowolves surrounded him. Two Beowolves first charged toward him. They jumped into the air and tried to claw him. He sliced them into half quickly and killed them. They turned into ashes as a sign of peace.

The leader of the Beowolves howled, commanding its pack to attack him. They obeyed and charged toward him. Two Beowloves were close to him. In slow motion, he activated his double spear fusion staff blaster to switch mode into a hybrid of a dual sword-shotguns called Dual Sword S.G.

He speedily shot gun bullets right to the heads of the two Beowolves and killed them! More Beowolves were charging him but in a split second... he vanished in a flash of dusts then reappeared from behind. He sliced the whole pack of Beowolves in a matter of seconds!

As he had killed them all, all of the Grimm Monsters turned into ashes. The Alpha Beowolf was left standing. The heroes were so shocked that they let their jaws down. The Alpha Beowolf was as shocked as them too. Its whole pack were killed and it was the only one left now.

The man stared at the Alpha Beowolf. The Grimm Monster had no choice but to fight him alone. It let out a howl in rage and dashed toward him. As it got closer to him, he jumped over it and then kicked it away so hard. It regained its balance and charged at him again. He charged at it as well.

When they were close to each other, he sliced its head off, killing it! With that, the Alpha Beowolf was defeated and he switched his hybrid weapon back into his blaster mode. He watched the dead body of the Alpha Beowolf turned into ashes as it was sent to peace. He was about to leave the field but was stopped by Wei Cheng.

"Thank you for saving us," Wei Cheng thanked him. The man remained silent but he just gave a nod.

"What is your name?" Dong Song asked him. However, he did not answer. He just teleported away in a flash of dusts. After he left, a photo was left on his spot where he disappeared. Wei Cheng took it and looked at it. It was a photo of a 4 years old girl.

She had a thick, long black hair, a pair of dark brown eyes just like the Mysterious Mask-Man's eyes, and a pendant that had two charms of a shooting star and a crescent moon. She wore a pink casual dress, and a pair of white sneakers.

"It is a photo... of a 4 years old girl," Wei Cheng said.

"Who is she?" Yong Gang questioned.

"I don't know. But maybe Master Wu knows," he answered.

With that, they drove their mecha-beasts as fast as they could to the Cavern of the Last East, which was located at the Southeast Region of the Eastern Caverns. When they reached the entrance, Shadow Clans appeared and were uncomfortable with the presence of the new slugslingers. Luckily, Master Wu came in and calmed them down.

"Don't worry. They are with us now," Wei Cheng told them. They looked at Master Wu, who nodded at Wei Cheng's statement. They looked at each other and were convinced. They allowed them to enter the cavern. The other heroes were awed by the greenery of the cavern. There were more houses now and they saw people doing their activities. Master Wu led them into his beautiful garden that was close to his wooden hut.

"I see you have recruited many slugslingers in your team," Master Wu told Wei Cheng.

"Well... they set a bait on us and I am relieved that they are heroes too," Wei Cheng explained and blushed in embarrassment.

"But we were attacked by a pack of... unusual wolves... and a mysterious man who wore a panther mask appeared out of nowhere and defeated them!" Dong Song cheered.

"He just disappeared in a flash of dusts, leaving this photo behind," Wei Cheng said and showed Master Wu the photo. The Slug Fu Master took a look at it. Suddenly, the Shadow Clans appeared around him to see the photo too.

"Who is she?" Wei Cheng asked.

"This girl... is no ordinary girl. I sense something powerful within her..." Master Wu stated.

"What do you sense from her?" Wei Cheng questioned.

A Shadow Clan told Master Wu something that the heroes did not understand.

"According to the Shadow Clan, she is an important figure and must not be known by the Emperor," he explained.

"So... what is the little girl's name?" Dong Song asked curiously.

"Khai," he answered.

"Hmm... why is she so important?" Kun Zhen wondered.

"She is the protector of a faraway cavern," he stated, "a mythical cavern that is filled with magic and harmony. I visited that cavern once."

"What is this cavern's name that has magic?" Wei Cheng was interested.

"Marinatopia," he replied.

"Marinatopia? I have heard of it before," Kun Zhen suddenly blurted out.

Everyone gazed at her so she must tell them about it. "When I was little, my mother used to tell me a story about a beautiful mythical cavern. The cavern has a guardian, which is a mythical creature."

"What is it?" the heroes asked.

"The mythical creature is a horse that has a horn on its forehead and a pair of white wings on its back," she explained.

"Oh... so what's its name?" Yu Juan questioned.

"I don't know its name, but I know it holds the title as 'The Mythical Guardian of Harmony'," she answered. "It will appear if there is a great war. It can end the war and return the caverns to peace and harmony."

"So why it does not come out now since we are in war?" Yu Juan wondered.

"It has been asleep for thousands of years and it cannot be awaken," Master Wu explained. "It can only be waken up by the 8 Elements of Harmony. Those who represent the 8 Elements of Harmony are the 8 Guardians of Harmony. They are the only ones who can wake it."

"Oh wow, I do not know that. I thought that is just a story," Kun Zhen commented. "But since Master Wu once visit that cavern, his knowledge about this creature and the Elements of Harmony is more than what I have obtained."

"So what are the 8 Elements of Harmony?" Zhong Fen questioned.

"Well, the 8 Elements of Harmony are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Forgiveness, Love, and Quintessence," Master Wu listed out. That surprised the heroes.

"Honesty is always truthful, Kindness will change your way, Laughter always bring happiness and joy, Generosity can do anything with imagination, Loyalty has the great intelligence, Forgiveness will find your life and side, Love is the true strength, and Quintessence can change our future," he told them about their meanings.

"There is also the magical tree that was made out of crystals," he added, which shocked them. "The tree is known as... the Crystal Tree of Harmony."

"Wow, we never knew about Marinatopia and it has so much magic," Wei Cheng blurted out.

"Yes, and that is why the girl in the photo is very important to Marinatopia," he explained, "she is tasked to protect her cavern from evil and dark magic. She can sense good sides hidden within the evil ones' hearts, and she is willing to give them a second chance." That made Hai Chang smiled.

The Shadow Clan Leader told him something and he added, "The Shadow Clans fear that the Emperor will try to find the cavern and destroy it. And try to take the girl."

"So... we must keep this a secret?" Kun Zhen guessed.

"Yes," he replied with a nod.

"Well, we all can keep it a secret. We promise," she answered. All of her friends, including Wei Cheng and Dong Song nodded in agreement.

* * *

So I have finally finished the introduction for the members of Team Phoenix. The story will continue with them having adventures until they met the main protagonist of My Life in Slugterra.

Chinjeol Cavern: Chinjeol means "kindness" in Korean.

Rabota Cavern: Rabota means "work" in Russian.

Miyako Cavern: Miyako is an old name for Kyoto.

Shinrin Kenko Cavern: In Japanese, Shinrin means "forest" and Kenko means "health".

Dhanee Cavern: Dhanee means "rich" in Hindi.

I haven't finished the ideas for that, and my important exams are in October. So I won't update much during this period. My exams will end in November 1 and I will have a lot of free time during the last two months.

So anyway, you can leave ideas for what you want for Team Phoenix. I have taken quite some requests.


	11. Getting Supplies

" _We need supplies for our survival... and for our success." - Wei Cheng_

 **Getting Supplies**

In a wooden house in the Cavern of the Last East, the members of Team Phoenix had gathered together for a discussion. Master Wu and two Shadow Clans joined them. The huge map of The Eastern Caverns was spread across the single table in the house.

"With the Emperor now in control, supplies from the caverns that have been taken over by the Underlords are all directly supply to Peach Blossom Spring Cavern," Kun Zhen stated since she had obtained many valuable information about the Underlords. "All of the supplies will be used by the Emperor himself, the Dai-Fu and all of the Underlords, either obtained in Peach Blossom Spring Cavern, or supply them to other caverns by train or ships."

"The East Region is the first region to be conquered. Then, the North Region, and now the West Region," Wei Cheng said.

"So... what should we do with the supplies? Steal them?" Yu Juan asked.

"Stealing is one thing, since we have done it. We can keep doing that so the supplies will be given to those who truly needed," Rong Chun agreed.

"But if we keep doing that in open, they will try to find a weak spot on us and destroy us," Zhong Fen argued.

"But first, we need to know what cavern supplies what," Yong Gang told them.

"Besides my cavern supplies Auroris Crystals," Kun Zhen started saying while pointing on the map, "Auroris Cavern, which was in the South Region, also mines those crystals. There are many crystal mines in that region."

"We can try to convince the South Guardian to help supplying crystals to us," Hai Chang suggested.

" _If_ he can agree with us..." Dong Song emphasized the "if".

"...and the Pyritor..." Kun Zhen added.

"Oh, please, Kun Zhen. That's just a legend," Yu Juan said.

"Firewood, logs, gold, bamboo, food, pearls, minerals, medicine and many more supplies..." Wei Cheng tried to list them out.

"That's a lot..." Suxiong Jian blurted out. He was surprised by the supplies that they needed since he was used to living in poverty.

"The Gold Paddy Cavern and the Great Minerals Cavern are in the Southeast Region. We can get supplies from those two caverns," Master Wu said.

"The Cavern of Great Rise is also in the Southeast Region. We may have the ability to get some advance tech from there," Zhong Fen added.

"If we can't, we can get some stuffs from junkyards," Suxiong Jian proposed an alternative.

"The Emas Cavern is a huge sea cavern that stretches from the Southeast Region to the South and West Region. We are very likely to get a lot of supplies from the ships," Hai Chang told them.

"But we need to avoid possible Underlords," Yong Gang warned.

"I can try to get help from the North Guardian for the supplies we need," Dong Song said.

"We can also get some medicine from Shinrin Kenko Cavern," Rong Chun added.

"I can give out info for goods yet to be delivered, but it is best for us to plant our crops and rear our herds of animals," Kun Zhen suggested.

"Kun Zhen is right," Zhong Fen agreed, "that way we won't rely too much on stolen resources. We can also send them to the needy."

"So, what are we waiting for? We are just getting started!" Yong Gang cheered.

* * *

Okay, "emas" from The Emas Cavern means "gold" in Malay. This is based on Melaka.

What would it be for next chapter?


	12. Freedom for Slugs

" _The Slugs are never for the Emperor and his Underlords!" - Team Phoenix_

 **Freedom for Slugs**

It was morning in the Cavern of the Last East. Everyone in the cavern had woken up.

"So... what are we going to do today?" Zhong Fen asked her teammates.

"Well, I am analyzing the places where the Underlords have stored their stolen slugs," Kun Zhen said while holding her tablet.

"Oh, I see now," Suxiong Jian blurted out.

Master Wu was with Team Phoenix, along with the Shadow Clans. The Shadow Clans spoke to the Slug Fu Master.

"The Emperor's right hand man, The Dark Slinger, has conquered many caverns. The Underlords are signed to those caverns," Master Wu told them.

"If it is a residential cavern, they control the people," Kun Zhen said.

"Besides that, they steal the supplies," Yong Gang added.

"But the most important of all, are slugs," Rong Chun summarized the discussion.

"They will store the stolen slugs in their fortresses, before loading them to the Dragon Train during Delivery Day," Kun Zhen explained.

"And the slugs will be transported to Peach Blossom Spring Cavern, and they will be locked in the Imperial Palace," Rong Chun added.

"Hmm... it seems that the Emperor wants all of the slugs," Yu Juan stated.

"Yes, he does," Kun Zhen answered.

"But why? It can't be that he is playing 'The Pirate Game'," Hai Chang blurted out.

"Nobody knows why. He never says why, but everyone must obey him or face the consequences," Kun Zhen explained.

"That's ridiculous! The Slugs are never for the Emperor and his Underlords!" Zhong Fen shouted.

"Slugs are important for everyone because of their slug energy," Dong Song stated.

"Yes, and we need to save those slugs!" Wei Cheng suggested.

"But where should we start?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"Well, which type of caverns should we start?" Kun Zhen asked for suggestions.

"Hmm... we should start somewhere that is much simpler for practice to sneak in and escape," Zhong Fen suggested.

"Okay. How about plains caverns?" she asked again.

"Yes, that will do," the Cave Troll replied.

"Well, in the North Region, Trava Steppe Cavern is a plains cavern," Dong Song told them.

"It is a grassland plains without trees," Wei Cheng explained.

"Pyeong-ya Cavern is a plains cavern in the East Region," Rong Chun stated.

"The fortresses will be easily seen, but so do we," Kun Zhen reminded them.

"We need to sneak into the fortresses, free the slugs, and escape," Zhong Fen told them.

"We just need to blend in with the surroundings," Rong Chun said.

* * *

In Trava Steppe Cavern, Team Phoenix were all lying on the ground. Their bodies were covered with patches of dry grass to cover themselves. They communicated with each other through earpieces.

"I know 'trava' means 'green' in Russian, but the grass here is no longer green. It is dry and wilting," Yu Juan complained.

"The missing slugs must have caused the cavern to be unhealthy," Zhong Fen guessed.

"Hey, guys. I found the fortress," Wei Cheng announced after spotting it through his binoculars. "It is at the north of our place."

The rest of the team turned their gazes to the north. They all spotted the fortress. Its shiny black wall stood out of the colours of yellow and brown in the cavern.

"Man, that colour of the fortress gives out the way!" Dong Song exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it seems unoccupied," Hai Chang said.

"That's what they want you to think," Rong Chun explained. "The fortress is where the Underlords of this cavern live, adding with Stone Warriors."

"If so, how do we sneak in?" Suxiong Jian asked.

"Let me try to distract them," Kun Zhen said.

Using her Thugglet slug, she was in her Underlord outfit now. She ran to the front door of the fortress. The rest of Team Phoenix crawled to the back door with the dry patches of grass as disguises.

Kun Zhen pressed a button beside the door. A ring was heard. "Who?" a male voice questioned.

"Underlord Kun Zhen. I need backup, now," she answered.

The door opened. A woman with two male goons appeared. "What's the problem, Underlord Kun Zhen?" the woman asked. Her voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"I need some backup," she told her.

"And why?" the woman questioned again.

"I have just encountered rebels," she answered.

"What?! Where?!" one of the woman's goons was fearful now.

"Hey, where are your Stone Warriors?" another goon asked her.

"Well... the rebels destroyed them," she replied.

"So... do you need my Stone Warriors... or my slugs?" the woman questioned her in an annoyed tone.

"Uh, no. Just three of you should work," she responded.

* * *

Meanwhile, the remaining members of Team Phoenix reached the back door.

"Okay, we are here," Zhong Fen murmured.

She tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. "It's locked," she said.

"I have an idea," Yu Juan pulled out a hairpin from her hair. She used it as a key to try to open the door. After a minute or two, the knob twitched and the door was unlocked.

"Good job, Yu Juan," the Cave Troll praised her.

As they sneaked in, they found Stone Warriors between the door! They almost shrieked but managed to hold back. They noticed that the eyes of the Stone Warriors were closed. They sighed in relief quietly.

"Okay, where is the room?" Wei Cheng asked softly.

Zhong Fen took out her Slicksilver and the magnet slug acted like a compass. The slug used its tiny arms to pinpoint the directions. "This way," she whispered to them when her Slicksilver got the directions.

"Wow, I didn't know that Slicksilvers can be compasses. Since I accidentally left my compass in my house," Wei Cheng laughed quietly with an embarrassed expression.

"My dad taught my brothers and I this technique," she explained proudly.

As they walked through the paths, they stopped abruptly when they saw two Stone Warriors were standing between a door.

"A guarded room, huh? Sounds promising," she whispered.

"But their eyes are open! We cannot pass them!" Yu Juan complained when she noticed their red eyes were visible.

"No, we still can. They won't respond unless their Underlord commands them to do so, or we aim our blasters at them in an attempt to attack them," Rong Chun explained.

"And how do you know this?" Yu Juan questioned her.

"Hey, I have encountered them before I met you guys," she answered.

"Okay, we just need to stay calm," Suxiong Jian said.

They walked to the door and opened it quietly. They were relieved that the Stone Warriors did not respond at all. Once they closed the door, they were shocked to find many Slug Barrels that were filled with slugs. There were many Diggrix, Dirt Urchin, Fandango, Flopper, Grenuke, Hop Rock, Phosphoro, Tazerling, Thugglet and Tormato slugs all mixed up in the barrels.

"Wow... so many slugs..." Hai Chang was shocked.

"Yes, these slugs are going to be sent to the Emperor," Yong Gang said.

"And with so many slugs taken away, this cavern will be in a worse condition," Zhong Fen added.

"We better save these slugs, fast!" Rong Chun told them.

Everyone nodded and began to take each barrel out. All of them carried two barrels, while Yu Juan and Rong Chun carried one barrel. They slowly took the Slug Barrels out of the fortress through the back door.

"Wait, where are our mechas?" Yong Gang asked.

"We... parked at the edge of the cavern..." Wei Cheng answered.

"...how are we supposed to reach our mechas with these many slugs?!" Yu Juan was furious now.

"I didn't know there will be so many slugs!" Rong Chun defended.

"Okay, calm down, everybody!" Zhong Fen tried to set things right, "everything will be fine as long as Kun Zhen can distract the Underlords long enough."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Underlords were at the front door, in position for any rebels to attack.

"Ugh! We have been waiting for half an hour now! Are you sure that they are coming?" the woman questioned Kun Zhen angrily.

"Yes! They are! They could be hiding around here!" Kun Zhen answered.

"Oh please, they won't be that dumb to come here," the woman said. She turned to her goons. "Return to your places."

The goons nodded and went back into the fortress. One of the goons saw Yu Juan carrying a Slug Barrel from the storage room for slugs. They were both shocked to see each other.

"Thief!" the goon yelled and fired a Dirt Urchin slug toward her. The slug reached velocity and fired its spikes at her direction. However, Yu Juan was flexible enough to escape the attack.

The goon pressed a red button on the wall. The alarms rang, alerting the other Underlords. "We have thieves stealing our slugs!" the goon's voice could be heard from the speakers.

The Underlords rushed to the store room. Hai Chang, Rong Chun, Suxiong Jian and Yong Gang were still handling the last few of the Slug Barrels.

"They notice us!" Hai Chang warned through his earpiece.

"Then get out of there right now!" Zhong Fen shouted.

As the four members tried to escape, they were attacked by the slugs fired by the Underlords. Suxiong Jian stood in front of his teammates. He aimed at the slugs and used his blaster staff to knock them off. He speedily fired his Tazerling and it shocked one of the goons. Rong Chun shot her Vinedrill and another goon was tangled up in the vines created by the Vinedrill.

"Stone Warriors! Destroy those slug thieves!" the woman commanded. The Stone Warriors came to life and marched into the scene.

Knowing that they needed to escape, Yong Gang slung his Firenzar and it flew around them, surrounding the Underlords with fiery rings. Hai Chang shot his Frostcrawler and it created an ice wall, blocking the way for the Underlords to attack them. The team ran off, carrying all of the remaining Slug Barrels.

Two Stone Warriors came to the villains' aid and they fired two Hop Jacks toward the ice wall. The ice wall easily crushed into pieces. The Underlords chased the thieves while the Stone Warriors marched slowly forward.

When the four members of Team Phoenix were running to the back door, they stopped on their tracks when they saw two Stone Warriors were outside the back door. Their cannons had raised, aiming at Dong Song, Wei Cheng, Yu Juan and Zhong Fen. Another two were coming from their top right. The Underlords and two more Stone Warriors arrived on their top left. They were surrounded!

"There's no way to run now, slug thieves," the woman announced as she and the other Underlords aimed their blasters at them.

Suddenly, a sinister voice was heard. "Did you hear that?" one of the goons asked their leader.

All of the sudden, the two Stone Warriors outside were smashed into pieces by Hop Rocks, Armashelts and Rammstones. A few black monkey-like creatures with green glowing patterns rushed into the fortress!

"Sha-Shadow Clans?!" the goons cried out in terror.

The Shadow Clans shrieked in anger. Two of them easily defeated the goons with their hand-to-hand combat. The woman and Kun Zhen ran around the room. Kun Zhen shot her Speedstinger and it hit a wall. It then bounced off and hit a Stone Warrior at the top right path, toppling it. It flew to a wall and ricocheted back at the Stone Warrior, knocking it off its feet. A Shadow Clan threw a Thresher slug toward the Stone Warriors at the top right path. The Thresher slug transformed and sliced them into half.

"Really?!" the woman yelled at Kun Zhen, realizing that she had lost four Stone Warriors.

"Sorry!" Kun Zhen apologized.

She then fired her Geoshard and it hit at the top left path. Crystals grew immediately upon impact and they blocked the path for the Stone Warriors.

"Can't you do things right, Kun?!" the woman scolded her.

"I am so sorry!" she replied.

A few more Shadow Clans appeared around Hai Chang, Rong Chun, Suxiong Jian and Yong Gang. They grabbed their hands and the Slug Barrels they had. A black orb surrounded them and a split second later, they had disappeared!

The Underlords, including Kun Zhen, noticed even more Shadow Clans outside the fortress. Some held the Slug Barrels. Some grabbed Dong Song, Wei Cheng, Yu Juan and Zhong Fen. They all vanished too!

One Shadow Clan suddenly appeared beside Kun Zhen and knocked her off with its fist. Now on the floor, weakened, two more Shadow Clans pinned her to the floor, growling at her.

"NNNOOO!" Kun Zhen screamed, pretending to be frightened. A green and black light flashed and they were gone. The woman and her recovered goons were shocked to see Underlord Kun Zhen being taken away by their most feared enemies.

* * *

The Shadow Clans and Team Phoenix were teleported back to the Cavern of the Last East.

"My gosh! That was a close call!" Dong Song exclaimed.

"Zhong Fen, I thought the plan was supposed to be good, but we almost died there!" Yu Juan yelled.

"I don't know Kun Zhen cannot distract them that long!" Zhong Fen defended.

"yes, it's my fault," Kun Zhen admitted as her disguise wore off, "we should be more careful next time."

"Yeah, but what happen to the slugs we saved?" Rong Chun questioned.

They saw some Shadow Clans held the Slug Barrels filled with slugs and disappeared with them.

"What are they doing?" Yu Juan asked.

The Shadow Clan Leader and Master Wu appeared. It told Master Wu something.

"Ah, the Shadow Clans are going to keep the slugs safe," Master Wu explained to the team.

"But don't you think freeing the slugs to their original habitats should be better? The cavern is pretty unhealthy," Hai Chang suggested.

The Shadow Clan Leader spoke to Master Wu again. "They say no. The slugs that are freed will still be captured by the Underlords again," Master Wu translated.

"Hmm... that's true," Zhong Fen blurted out.

"Wait! Where are our mechas?!" Wei Cheng began to freak out.

"Oh no! We left them at the corner of Trava Steppe Cavern!" Yong Gang shouted.

Master Wu turned to the Shadow Clan Leader. It nodded and vanished in a black flash, including the other Shadow Clans.

"Okay... what happened?" Suxiong Jian asked, baffled by their sudden disappearances.

Around 15 seconds later, the Shadow Clans returned, along with their vehicles.

"Oh, wow! Thank you for returning our vehicles to us!" Hai Chang thanked them.

Besides the vehicles, two Shadow Clans also held someone else and they tossed their captor to the ground. Their captor was a young female Cave Troll, wearing an Underlord outfit. She had light blue skin, purple hair and pale magenta eyes. Team Phoenix and Master Wu saw her.

"Elke Aquamarine?!" Zhong Fen and Kun Zhen were shocked to see her.

* * *

Trava means "green" in Russian. So I will be leaving a cliffhanger for this chapter. Guess what will happen in the next chapter.


	13. Unexpected Help

" _I don't want to be an Underlord anymore! I just want my uncle back and escape with him!" - Elke_

 **Unexpected Help**

Upon seeing Elke Aquamarine, Zhong Fen was the first to draw her blaster out and aimed at her. The others followed in too.

"Por favor! Dejame explicar!" Elke exclaimed in Spanish. Almost everyone was confused.

"There's no need to explain, Elke!" Zhong Fen yelled off.

"She said "Please! Let me explain!", guys," Hai Chang explained to the team.

"And... why, Elke? Uhm... can you speak English?" Kun Zhen requested.

"Yes... I was working the Underlords but... I don't want to be an Underlord anymore!" she explained in English. Everyone was skeptical except for Kun Zhen.

"I want freedom, but I need to save my uncle from the Underlords first!" she added.

"What happened to your uncle?" Kun Zhen questioned.

"He was held... captivated in Pyeong-ya Cavern," she answered.

"That's where we are going, guys! We can save the slugs and save her uncle!" Kun Zhen stated.

"No way, Kun!" Zhong Fen rejected, "she betrayed our tribe's qualities as loyal, brave and honest. She is an Underlord who gave us a bad name."

"I did not betray our tribe! I was forced to join the Underlords!" Elke defended. "My parents were killed by the Dark Slinger, and the Underlords had my uncle, the only family member I have left. I had no choice to join the Underlords or else they will kill him!"

Everyone was shocked when she mentioned "The Dark Slinger". He was the Emperor's right hand man who helped him to conquer many caverns across the Eastern Caverns. He had conquered the East, North and West Regions. Those caverns would be under the Emperor's command and the Underlords would be assigned to those caverns to keep them in control, steal the slugs and the supplies. Despite they had never encountered him, they heard that he was unbeatable and the circumstances of facing him were terrible.

"I am so sorry for your loss, Elke..." Kun Zhen comforted her.

"That doesn't convince me," Zhong Fen refused to believe Elke's story.

"Oh, really? I was the one who freed Hamengku and many of the stolen slugs!" Elke exclaimed.

"It was you?" Kun Zhen was surprised. She had received the news that Hamengku, a rebel fighting against the Emperor's rule, had escaped from prison a few days ago. Besides that, many of the stolen slugs were freed too. The news spread like wildfire and the Emperor was furious. However, nobody knew how did it happen.

"Yes... because I am tired of being an Underlord!" Elke replied.

"So it was you who freed him and the slugs," Kun Zhen began to hesitate.

"But how did the Shadow Clans find you?" Yong Gang asked Elke.

"I was at the corner of Trava Steppe Cavern... and... I saw you guys... sneaking into the fortress..." Elke began to explain, "you guys did not come out for a long time... and I found your mechas... when I got close to them... these... creatures... I believed to be Shadow Clans... appeared and wanted to teleport all of the mechas... that's when they saw me... and captured me..."

"Because you were an Underlord. They steal slugs, angering the Shadow Clans," Master Wu pointed out.

"Yes... but... I need your help... I need to save my uncle so we can escape!" Elke pleaded.

"I will help you," Kun Zhen volunteered.

"I am in!" Hai Chang joined in too.

"Are you serious, Kun Zhen?" Rong Chun questioned, "this could be a trap, you know."

"This is not a trap, Rong. Elke needs our help. She cannot do it alone," Kun Zhen tried to convince the team but they were still skeptical.

Kun Zhen sighed. "Fine. Wei Cheng, Zhong Fen, Dong Song and Suxiong Jian will distract the Underlords out of the fortress. Yu Juan, Yong Gang and Rong Chun will help the Shadow Clans to save the stolen slugs. Elke, Hai Chang and I will save her uncle," Kun Zhen explained the plan.

"Everyone understands?" she questioned. They all nodded. "Good. Let's do this."

* * *

Team Phoenix and Elke spotted the fortress in the middle of Pyeong-ya Cavern. "There it is. Elke's uncle should be in there," Kun Zhen whispered as she looked through her binoculars.

"And the slugs," Rong Chun added softly.

"Okay, let's proceed the plan," Kun Zhen stated and everyone nodded.

Wei Cheng, Zhong Fen, Dong Song and Suxiong Jian were positioned in front of the fortress a few miles ahead. Yu Juan, Yong Gang, Rong Chun, Hai Chang, Kun Zhen and Elke sneaked close to the fortress.

"Okay, you guys ready?" Wei Cheng asked the group. They nodded. "Okay then."

The group fired their slugs toward the fortress. The slugs collided with the walls in front of the fortress. It took a few shots to get the Underlords and Stone Warriors inside the fortress to come out. The battlefield was filled with shots fired, either slugs or corrupted slugs. With the villains distracted, Kun Zhen led the group into the fortress without being noticed.

"Okay, we are in," Kun Zhen murmured. "Stick to the plan."

Yu Juan, Yong Gang and Rong Chun went to find the room where the stolen slugs were stored. On the other hand, Elke, Hai Chang and Kun Zhen went to find Elke's uncle.

"Kun Zhen, we found the slugs!" Rong Chun reported through her earpiece.

"Good, but we haven't found her uncle yet," Kun Zhen responded.

Hai Chang looked around and saw a locked door. He shot a Thresher slug to break the lock. The door creaked. He pushed it wide open and found a flight of stairs, leading to the basement. "Hey, Kun! Stairs!" he told her.

"Maybe he is under the fortress, Elke?" Kun Zhen asked Elke.

"I think so... he is behind bars..." Elke answered.

"Well, this is a locked door. Most possible that he was there," Hai Chang stated.

"Let's go down," Kun Zhen said and the three of them walked down the stairs. The basement was utterly dark. Kun Zhen used her Flaringo to lit up the room. The small fire showed the basement to be extremely dirty. The walls and floors were stained. Slime and food residue were presence everywhere.

Kun Zhen carried her Flaringo upwards. The light produced by the fire showed a prison cell. Inside the cell, there was a Cave Troll. He had blue skin, brownish short hair and pale magenta eyes. He wore a white t-shirt base layer, black vest underneath his t-shirt base layer, black gauntlets that were strapped on both of his arms, a pair of red jeans and black boots.

"Uncle Hiroaki?" Elke called out.

The Cave Troll looked up and saw her. "Elke?" he was surprised to see her.

"Yes, it's me," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're getting you out of here," she answered.

Since they did not have a key, Hai Chang decided to use his Thresher slug again. "Stand back!" he warned Hiroaki. He slung his Thresher slug again and its blades sliced the bars into half. Then, Hai Chang used all of his strength to try to bend open the bars.

"No, kiddo. I can handle this," Hiroaki Aquamarine said to him. As a Cave Troll, his immense strength easily bent the bars and he escaped. He and Elke shared a tight hug.

"Kun Zhen, the Shadow Clans have taken all of the slugs. We need to go now," Rong Chun reported back to Kun Zhen.

"Okay," Kun Zhen replied and turned to her group. "Guys! We need to go now!" she told them.

The group rushed up into the stairs. When they returned to the fortress, a Stone Warrior was somehow present and noticed them. It shot a Hop Jack toward them. They quickly ran away. Kun Zhen fired an Armashelt and it bashed onto the head of the Stone Warrior, destroying it. More Stone Warriors came in.

"Kun Zhen! Where are you guys?!" Rong Chun's voice from the earpiece hitned that she was frustrated now. "Stone Warriors have found us now!"

"You guys go with the Shadow Clans!" Kun Zhen told her. "We will catch up with you later!"

Under her command, the Shadow Clans grabbed Yu Juan, Yong Gang and Rong Chun and teleported away.

Kun Zhen and her group turned their path and stopped when they saw more Stone Warriors who were in front of an opened room. Kun Zhen bet that room was where the slugs were stored. The Stone Warriors turned their heads and noticed the team. They raised their cannons. The team tried to run back to the original path but Stone Warriors were blocking their way too. They were surrounded!

When they thought that they were doomed, all of the sudden, hissing sounds were heard. Those sounds were similar to the Shadow Clans' hissing sounds. Much to their surprise, monkey-like creatures came out of nowhere, surrounding them! They were identical to the Shadow Clans, aside of their blue eyes, white bodies and having blue glowing patterns on their bodies.

They threw Hop Rocks and Rammstones toward the Stone Warriors, damaging them. Seeing that they were attacked, they shot out corrupted slugs toward the team. The creatures responded by creating a light shield around them. The shield protected them from the incoming slugs. A white blinding light emitted from the shield and a few seconds later, they vanished!

Meanwhile, outside the fortress, the duel was getting intense. The remaining members of Team Phoenix were getting overwhelmed.

"We need to go now!" Suxiong Jian yelled.

After that, a few Shadow Clans appeared behind them and grabbed their shoulders before teleporting them to safety.

* * *

Back in the Cavern of the Last East, all members of Team Phoenix reunited. Elke and Hiroaki were there too.

"Everyone's okay?" Kun Zhen questioned worriedly. Each of the members nodded. "Good."

"Oh, uncle! I thought I would never see you again..." Elke said to her uncle while hugging him.

"Me either, sweetie..." Hiroaki replied while hugging her back.

"But... the Underlords will find us now..." Elke realized.

"Don't worry. We are going somewhere faraway from the Eastern Caverns so the Underlords won't find us," Hiroaki told her. "We are going to Marinatopia, where my wife and son are."

Elke nodded in agreement. She wanted freedom and a new life in Marinatopia. She would be living with her uncle, aunt and cousin.

"Wait. Marinatopia?" Kun Zhen was shocked when she heard that name. Others were shocked too.

"Marinatopia is a wonderful place," Master Wu said. "When someone accidentally stumbles upon Marinatopia, their lives will bloom and they will have a wonderful time there."

"So you two are from Marinatopia?" Kun Zhen questioned Elke and Hiroaki.

"Actually, my uncle stumbles upon there," Elke explained.

"Yes, and I met a beautiful Cave Troll and we got married, and have a son," Hiroaki added.

"So... how will you two go there now?" Kun Zhen asked.

The creatures who had saved her, Hai Chang, Elke and Hiroaki spoke to Master Wu and the Shadow Clan Leader. Their language was similar to those spoken by the Shadow Clans.

"The Light Clans will teleport them to Marinatopia," Master Wu translated.

"Light Clans?" everyone was confused.

"Yes, the Light Clans are similar to the Shadow Clans, but they control light and they are all females," Master Wu explained. "They are allies with them."

"Oh~ Wow," the team blurted out.

The Light Clans, Elke and Hiroaki nodded at each other. The Light Clans were preparing to teleport them to Marinatopia.

"Wait!" Zhong Fen suddenly called out. "I want to say something."

She went to Elke. "Elke, I am sorry for being mad at you... I was wrong about you. I hope that I will meet you again... someday," Zhong Fen apologized.

"It's okay. I was just forced to join the Underlords because they had my uncle," Elke forgave her.

"And... I am so sorry for the loss of your parents... killed by the Dark Slinger..." Zhong Fen added.

"But it's for the best now. Now I will be living in Marinatopia," Elke replied.

With that, Elke and her uncle bid farewell to Team Phoenix, Master Wu and Shadow Clans. The Light Clans teleported them away with a white flash.

* * *

So.. this chapter is requested by FoxyKhai0209. Now you know about Elke's past. She is a character of FoxyKhai0209 and she is a member of Team KHEI. She is mentioned in chapter 18 of My Life in Slugterra. You will see her in action soon.

So... chapter 14 will be up soon, and that chapter will be made with the help of FoxyKhai0209.


	14. Magical Accessories

" _These accessories are special and can be good luck charms when you all fight against the Underlords and the Emperor." - Ning_

 **Magical Accessories**

The next day, a day after Team Phoenix and Master Wu bid farewell to Elke and her uncle Hiroaki, Team Phoenix were on their way to a cavern. The memories of The Light Clans helping Elke and Hiroaki to teleport to Marinatopia still lingered in their minds. However, they wanted to focus on the mission. They had traveled for half a day.

"We are getting close to Jinian Cavern," Wei Cheng announced.

"Be careful, everyone. This cavern is the nearest cavern to Peach Blossom Spring Cavern," Dong Song added.

"And why are we going to a cavern close to danger zone?" Yu Juan questioned.

"I heard that the Underlords were stealing souvenirs that are sold in Jinian Cavern," Kun Zhen answered.

"Why would they want the souvenirs for?" Suxiong Jian asked.

"I don't know. But the cavern sells all kinds of souvenirs from every region in the Eastern Caverns. The cavern is likely to be rich," Kun Zhen explained.

As they arrived at their destination, they heard a man yelling. They also saw the Underlords stealing the man's souvenirs along with the jewelries. The man had short light purple hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. He wore a crimson shirt base layer, red vest underneath his shirt base layer, black leather pants and scarlet camouflage sneakers. He was chasing the Underlords but he could not catch up on them.

"That man needs help!" Kun Zhen exclaimed.

"Retrieve the stolen items!" Zhong Fen announced.

Wei Cheng shot his Frostcrawler and it froze the path that the Underlords were about to go. The ice made them slipped and fell. The souvenirs and jewelries that they had stolen scattered across the icy path.

Team Phoenix rushed to the path, trying to recover the stolen items. The Underlords began to sit up and saw them. They fired a Hop Rock, a Rammstone and an Armashelt toward them. Hai Chang slung his Bubbaleone toward the Hop Rock. The Hop Rock went inside its mouth and exploded. The Bubbaleone was unharmed and spat the slug out, which was now in Protoform. Dong Song fired his Frostcrawler and instantly froze the incoming Rammstone. Zhong Fen's Rammstone bashed onto the Armashelt, defeating it.

Zhong Fen noticed a truck filled with other stolen souvenirs and jewelries not too far from them. She slung her Arachnet and it spun a web that stuck onto the opening of the truck. Two Underlords noticed the web and the heroes.

"Intruder! Get this thing out of here!" One of the Underlords called out.

"Stop them from getting away!" Zhong Fen yelled.

Yu Juan shot her Hop Rock toward the truck. It missed when the truck moved away. She, Wei Cheng, Rong Chun and Suxiong Jian chased the truck. The three Underlords that they dealt with finally stood up. They tried to attack the remaining members of Team Phoenix but were easily defeated by Zhong Fen thanks to her immense strength. Kun Zhen then wrapped them up using her Arachnet.

"We need to stop them before they reach Peach Blossom Spring Cavern!" Wei Cheng shouted.

"But don't damage the stolen items!" Suxiong Jian added.

"But how can we get close to them?" Yu Juan questioned.

A shot was heard being fired. A Firenzar was flying toward the truck. It surrounded the Underlords and their truck with fire rings. The Firenzar flew back to Yong Gang, who was following Wei Cheng, Rong Chun, Yu Juan and Suxiong Jian from behind. Hai Chang and Dong Song were following Yong Gang too.

"This is our chance!" Rong Chun exclaimed.

Wei Cheng fired his Diggrix and it performed _Tunnelsneak_. It dug a tunnel under the earth and sneaked up on its opponent, who was on a mecha-beast that pulled the truck. The Diggrix suddenly pushed the mecha-beast upward and knocked the Underlord down from his vehicle.

Rong Chun slung her Hoverbug and it caught one of the two Underlords on top of the truck. It carried him onto a dizzy ride and then threw him down hard to the ground. Suxiong Jian shot his Tazerling and it damaged the mecha-beast with its electricity. Yu Juan fired an Armashelt and collided with the other Underlord on top of the truck, knocking him out cold.

The last Underlord, who fell off from the mecha-beast, was about to lift his blaster to fire. Hai Chang spotted him and immediately fired his Thresher toward him. It chomped onto the Underlord's blaster, It then performed _Blasterblash_ as it spun like a saw blade, sawing the blaster in half. The Underlord saw his damaged blaster for a second and screamed in fear. As he tried to run away, Dong Song slung his Hiverphin and it sprayed a freezing jet of water onto him. The Underlord collapsed onto the ground, shivering.

Team Phoenix cheered victoriously. They captured the three Underlords and wrapped them up with sticky webs from their Arachnet slugs. Zhong Fen and Kun Zhen came up to them and was delighted that they successfully stopped them from escaping. Zhong Fen pulled the truck back to the cavern. Kun Zhen gathered the scattered stolen items on the ice floor and returned to the man.

"Thank you for returning my souvenirs and jewelries," the man thanked the team.

"What is your name?" Dong Song asked.

"Ning," the man replied. "Come in! Have some tea."

He invited Team Phoenix into his store. His store looked quite nice and comfortable. Ning went to the kitchen to make tea while Team Phoenix sat down on the chairs, waiting for him. Then, Ning came out of the kitchen with a tray of teapot and cups. They were all filled with hot tea.

"I can't thank you all enough for helping me to save my souvenirs and jewelries," Ning thanked Team Phoenix again as they enjoyed their tea.

"No problem," Hai Chang responded.

"Why were the Underlords stealing your souvenirs?" Wei Cheng questioned.

Ning sighed and explained, "All of my souvenirs are very valuable and the jewelries are quite expensive."

"Wow, I never knew that these souvenirs could be expensive," Yong Gang was surprised, so did Suxiong Jian. The two boys were used to live in quite poor lives.

Kun Zhen stood up from her chair. "We will be going now. We have a lot of things to do," Kun Zhen said.

Team Phoenix were about to leave. "Wait for a moment," Ning called out and they stopped on their tracks. "I have something to give you all."

Ning went to a room. After a few minutes, he came back with a black jewelry box. Ning opened the jewelry box, revealing nine accessories. On the left, there were two necklaces. One had a white gem that took the shape of a snowflake, while another had a green gem that took the shape of a daisy flower. The top right corner had two rings. One ring had a red gem that took the shape of a flame, while the other ring had a yellow gem that took the shape of a lightning bolt. There were two brooches on the bottom right corner. One had a blue gem that took shape of a droplet. The other had a gray gem that took shape of a fox. The middle section had a bracelet with a green-yellow gem that took shape of a forget-me-not flower, a pair of earrings with a magenta gem each side that were diamond shapes, and a hair comb with an orange gem that was shaped like an octagon.

Team Phoenix were awed to see these accessories. "These accessories are rewards for helping me," Ning told them.

"Why?" Rong Chun asked him.

"These accessories are special and can be good luck charms when you all fight against the Underlords and the Emperor," Ning answered.

With that, Yong Gang took the flame ring, while Hai Chang took the droplet brooch. Zhong Fen chose the forget-me-not flower bracelet, while Wei Cheng chose the fox brooch. The diamond earrings were taken by Kun Zhen, while the snowflake necklace was taken by Dong Song. Suxiong Jian took the lightning bolt ring, Yu Juan chose the octagon hair comb, and the daisy flower necklace was taken by Rong Chun.

"Thank you for these gifts, Ning," Kun Zhen thanked him as she wore her diamond earrings.

Ning nodded. "You must never lose your good luck charms," he said.

"Why?" Yong Gang questioned curiously.

"You will find out soon," Ning replied.

After that, Team Phoenix left Ning's store and bid him a goodbye. They left the cavern and proceeded to the Cavern of the Last East. Night came fast, and they were still half-way to their destination. Hence, Team Phoenix set up a camp in the woods.

Yong Gang gathered some fire woods and used one of his fire slugs to start a fire. Zhong Fen, Suxiong Jian and Wei Cheng were setting up tents. Kun Zhen and Yu Juan went to find some fruits and herbs, while Hai Chang and Dong Song went to find a nearby river for water and fish. Meanwhile, Rong Chun was high up on a tree above the camp. She looked at her daisy flower necklace and noticed that it was emitting a faint green glow. She was a bit surprised to see this.

* * *

Hai Chang and Dong Song found a nearby river. They went into the stream used their hunting skills to catch some fishes. Their droplet brooch and snowflake necklace emitted faint blue and white glows. They did not notice them as they were busy to prepare the meal.

All of the sudden, Hai Chang saw bubbles emerging in front of him as he carried a bucket of water to the shore. He wondered what it was. A big ferocious fish suddenly jumped out of the water with its jaws opened wide for its sharp teeth to bite him! Hai Chang gasped fearfully!

His droplet brooch shone in blue light as a reaction. A wave of water suddenly emerged from the river and smacked the fish away from Hai Chang! He was stunned by what he just saw. He shook his head, wondering if that was just an illusion. However, it was not. He clearly remembered a wave formed from the river and knocked the fish off before it could reach him. His droplet brooch was glowing faintly now.

"Hai Chang, are you okay?" Dong Song asked him as he tossed a fish into another bucket.

"I... I think so..." Hai Chang replied and went back to the shore.

Dong Song also went back to the shore. The sounds of bubbles forming on the water caught his attention. He turned to the source of the sound. Suddenly, the fish that almost attacked Hai Chang jumped out of the water again, heading toward Dong Song!

Dong Song screamed in terror and raised his hands up to protect himself from the fish! The snowflake necklace shone in white light. All of the sudden, two ice blasts came out of his palms and the fish was trapped in a big ice cube. Dong Song was baffled when he saw the fish, now encased in ice was in front of him.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed.

"I have no idea!" Hai Chang responded. "That fish was the one that tried to attack me! And suddenly a wave knocked it away from me!"

"What? How did that happen? How did this happen?!" Dong Song was utterly confused.

"I have no idea!" Hai Chang replied.

"Okay, okay..." Dong Song tried to calm down. "First thing first. What should we do to this... killer fish?"

"Just throw it into the water. We don't have a bigger pot for this fish. And we don't want it to jump around and attack others," Hai Chang explained.

"Okay then," Dong Song blurted out and pushed the frozen fish back into the river.

* * *

Kun Zhen and Yu Juan were far away from the camp. They found many berries on the trees and some herbs on the ground. They picked them and carried them with buckets. They did not notice that the diamond earrings and the octagon hair comb emitted faint magenta and orange glows.

"You think these are enough for Rong Chun?" Yu Juan asked.

"Hopefully yes," Kun Zhen replied.

As they were about to leave, they heard growling sounds from behind. They turned around and saw two Slug Hounds staring at them.

"Oh no..." Kun Zhen was worried now.

"Slug Hounds..." Yu Juan said.

The two Slug Hounds sensed their fear and ran toward them in full speed! Kun Zhen stood in front of Yu Juan, in hopes to protect her. Her diamond earrings shone in magenta lights. To her utmost surprise, crystals grew from the ground immediately in front of her, creating a wall to block the Slug Hounds. The hounds were startled by the crystal wall and tried to claw it through, but was no use.

"Hey! Why is there a crystal wall in front of us?" Yu Juan questioned in surprise.

"I... I don't know..." Kun Zhen stammered. "All of the sudden it was there..."

While they looked into each other's eyes, the Slug Hounds had managed to climb up of the crystals and squeezed through the gaps between the crystals. They were on the ground and growling at them.

"You have to go now, Yu Juan," Kun Zhen told her.

"No! I can handle this!" Yu Juan told her off and went close to the angry Slug Hounds. She did a fighting pose. Her octagon hair comb began to shone in an orange light.

One of the Slug Hounds went to her direction first. Yu Juan jumped high and her right leg swung to its head, kicking it hard! Once she landed on the ground perfectly, the other Slug Hounds growled louder. She faced it and sped up toward it. The Slug Hound also ran toward her. Yu Juan lift her left leg and kicked onto its face! She did a back flip and landed on the ground firmly. With their injuries, the two Slug Hounds speedily ran away from her.

"Wow, Yu Juan... how did you do that?" Kun Zhen was amazed.

"To be honest... I don't know... I am good in combat but... suddenly... I become so... great," Yu Juan explained.

Kun Zhen sighed. "We better go back now," she said.

As they were about to move, Kun Zhen stopped abruptly. "What's wrong, Kun?" Yu Juan asked.

"I think... we have lost our track..." Kun Zhen answered.

"What?! We are lost?!" Yu Juan was shocked.

"I'm afraid so..."

"Do you have a Slicksilver?"

"Yes, why?"

"Zhong Fen once used it as a compass to find her direction. Maybe we can use it."

"But... I don't know how to do it..."

"Seriously?!"

* * *

Back at the camp, Hai Chang and Dong Song had just returned with a bucket of water and fish.

"Welcome back, guys," Wei Cheng greeted them and helped them out.

"You guys won't believe what we just saw!" Dong Song exclaimed.

"What is it?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"Well, a big fish with big sharp jaws almost bit us!" Hai Chang began his story. "First, it tried to attack me, but suddenly a wave of water from the river smacked it away from me!"

"And when it jumped out of the shore to attack me, the fish was suddenly frozen into a big ice cube!" Dong Song added.

"...seriously?" Zhong Fen was skeptical.

"Hey, where are Kun Zhen and Yu Juan?" Suxiong Jian realized that they had been gone for some time. "They should be back by now."

"Wait... Are they lost?" Zhong Fen was worried now.

"I'm afraid so..." Suxiong Jian blurted out.

Suddenly, Wei Cheng's fox brooch shone in a gray light. "I think I know where they are," he stated and went off on their track to find them despite the path had no trace.

* * *

Kun Zhen and Yu Juan were still stuck, not knowing where the camp was located.

"Look, Yu Juan... Zhong Fen has not taught me about this..." Kun Zhen explained.

"So can't we try to find the camp rather than staying here for help?" Yu Juan suggested.

"No, Yu Juan. If we went off and got lost even more, our friends might not be able to find us," Kun Zhen answered.

"But how long will they find us?" Yu Juan asked. "It may take hours or..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Wei Cheng suddenly appeared in front of them.

"There you are!" he shouted.

"Wei Cheng! Thank goodness you found us!" Kun Zhen thanked him.

"How did you find us?" Yu Juan questioned.

"I don't know. I just... somehow know your path and follow your traces," Wei Cheng explained.

"I don't know why, but I am glad that you found us!" Kun Zhen said.

"Yes, and we should go back to the camp now," Wei Cheng stated and led them back to the camp.

* * *

When Wei Cheng, Kun Zhen and Yu Juan returned to the camp, Dong Song and Hai Chang were boiling some water and cooking the fishes. Kun Zhen threw some herbs into the pot that was cooking fish soup. She left the remaining herbs in an empty bowl. Yu Juan placed most of the berries into the bowl with some herbs. The remaining berries were placed on another bowl.

"Rong Chun! Dinner is ready!" Wei Cheng called out.

"Okay!" Rong Chun responded from above the camp. She was about to climb down when she lost her balance and fell down! She screamed, which caused Team Phoenix to look up. They yelled her name in shock when they saw her falling!

All of the sudden, her daisy necklace shone in a green light. The tree branches suddenly extended longer and caught Rong Chun! Team Phoenix were in shocked to see this as the branches lowered her down. Rong Chun was as shocked as her team when she climbed off the branches. The branches then return to normal.

"What was... that?!" Yong Gang questioned.

"I... I don't know..." Rong Chun replied.

Dong Song noticed that her necklace was glowing faintly. "Hey, Rong, your necklace is glowing," he told her. The others saw it as well.

"Why is your necklace glowing?" Suxiong Jian asked. Rong Chun shrugged, showing that she did not know why.

"We will talk about it later," Zhong Fen told the team. "We are going to have dinner."

Rong Chun's meal was a bowl of herbs and berries. The other members were having fish soup. Their slugs were having berries from another bowl.

Suxiong Jian went to snap some branches to make chopsticks. He did not notice that his lightning bolt ring was emitting a faint yellow glow. With the snapping sounds, the Slug Hounds who almost attacked Kun Zhen and Yu Juan were attracted by the sounds. They went to the source of the sounds and noticed Suxiong Jian. One of the Slug Hounds bit onto his staff blaster that he carried at his back.

"Hey!" Suxiong Jian shouted and saw a Slug Hound biting hard onto his blaster. He pulled his blaster out but the Slug Hound refused to let go.

"Let go!" he swung the blaster as hard as he could in an attempt to get his blaster out of its jaws.

He heard a bark nearby and from the corner of his eyes, he saw another Slug Hound coming toward him. Suxiong Jian swung his blaster toward the incoming predator. The Slug Hound that was biting onto his blaster collided with the incoming Slug Hound. They both were knocked on the ground.

"Aw, man!" Suxiong Jian groaned when he found the tip of his blaster was slightly damaged by bite marks and was covered with saliva. "My blaster!"

The Slug Hounds shook their heads and growled at him. He realized that he had provoked them. Without his arsenal of slugs, and with the damage of his blaster, he was in danger. He held the blaster tight in front of him for protection.

The Slug Hounds rushed toward him furiously. All of the sudden, his lightning bolt ring shone in a yellow light. His hands generated lightnings and they passed through his blaster. Two lightnings struck the Slug Hounds and they were weakened.

Suxiong Jian was truly shocked by what happened. There were lightnings coming out of him! He checked his body but realized that he was alright.

"Dude! What happened?" Yong Gang questioned. The whole team had heard his yells and went over to find out what happened.

"I... I don't know..." Suxiong Jian stammered.

Rong Chun noticed the Slug Hounds slowly stood up, injured but still willing to attack. "What did you do to the Slug Hounds?!" she demanded to know the answer from Suxiong Jian.

Her daisy necklace shone in green light again. The Slug Hounds suddenly calmed down and stared at Rong Chun. Rong Chun turned to them. "Sit," she commanded them. The Slug Hounds immediately sat down.

Everyone was stunned. "You guys don't hurt them," Rong Chun told her friends as she went closer to the Slug Hounds. "Especially you, Suxiong Jian. You electrocuted them."

Suxiong Jian was shocked. "How... how did you..."

"They told me. The Slug Hounds told me," she replied, leaving the team in greater shock.

She patted at their heads and they felt warmth. "Now don't attack us. You two are with me. I won't bite and I won't hurt you two," she murmured to them.

The Slug Hounds were quickly tamed and they behaved like dogs. They followed Rong Chun back to the camp. They were no longer ferocious at all. Rong Chun's ability to tame them quickly startled the team.

"How did you do that, Rong?" Kun Zhen asked her.

"I don't know... they just... responded on what I commanded them... and it seems that I... understand what are they talking about..." Rong Chun answered.

"Your abilities reminded me of Jie..." Wei Cheng stated.

"...the younger brother of the Eastern Champion..." Zhong Fen whispered to herself. Her tone was clearly sad.

"But one of the Slug Hounds bit my blaster!" Suxiong Jian argued. "Look at it! There are bite marks right here!" He showed his blaster and it was clear that one of its barrels was damaged.

"Oh dear. But I will fix it," Zhong Fen said and grabbed his blaster staff. She touched the damaged barrel and examined it. Her forget-me-not flower bracelet shone in a green-yellow light. The damaged barrel that she was touching was quickly repaired! The barrel was as good as new now! That startled her!

Suxiong Jian went to examine the barrel and realized that it was repaired! "Wow, Zhong Fen! How did you repair it so fast?" he was very surprised.

"I don't know. I just touched it and... it was good as new," Zhong Fen answered.

Suxiong Jian took his blaster back. "It looks like you have the power to fix technologies," he said.

"Well... I wish for it," she replied.

"Come on, guys! I am starving!" Yu Juan complained.

* * *

During dinner, everyone was quiet. Unusually quiet. They were extremely shocked by the unexpected events happening on them after receiving the accessories written by Ning. They did not want to talk about it.

Yong Gang sat close to the campfire after he finished his dinner. He let his palms faced the fire for warmth. As he moved his hands left and right, he noticed that the campfire seemed to have moved with his hand movements. Startled but curious, he repeated the process and got the same results. He reached for the fire and his right hand got too close to it!

"Yong Gang!" everyone yelled out when they saw that his right hand was too close to the fire.

"What?" he asked. He was startled by their yells and his right hand was pulled back.

"Your hand is too close to the fire! You will burn yourself!" Zhong Fen scolded him.

"But my hand is fine," he corrected her. Zhong Fen examined his right hand. It was true – there were no burn marks at all.

"See? I told you," he blurted out.

Zhong Fen shook her head in disbelief. "This has been a weird night for us," she sighed.

* * *

The next morning, Team Phoenix speedily ate their breakfast and rushed to the Cavern of the Last East. They were desperate for answers about their accessories that somehow held magical abilities. Once they reached their destination, they saw Master Wu talking to the Shadow Clan Leader.

"Welcome back, Team Phoenix," Master Wu greeted them. The Shadow Clan Leader bowed down to them. It sensed the magic coming from Team Phoenix's accessories.

He told Master Wu about it. "Come into my hut," Master Wu told Team Phoenix.

Once they were inside Master Wu's hut, Master Wu said, "May I see all of your accessories?"

They looked at each other in confusion but they showed their accessories to Master Wu.

"Ah yes, these are not ordinary accessories. These accessories contains magical geodes. Gifts from the wise man Ning," Master Wu explained.

"Magical geodes?" Kun Zhen questioned. She and her team were surprised.

"Yes," Master Wu began the story. "A long time ago, Ning accidentally found these magical geodes from a crystal mine. The Shadow Clans sensed the magic emitted from the geodes and reported it to me. We met him and told him about the magical geodes. With that, Ning made the geodes into accessories and promised to keep them safe until he decided to give them to the worthy."

"I... see now..." Kun Zhen replied.

"You all may keep your own magical accessories but use them wisely," he warned them. "However, if you all used up the magical geodes' abilities... it will shatter into pieces and the magic is lost forever. Leaving you all without magical abilities."

Team Phoenix were shocked to hear that! "Okay, we understand now, Master Wu," Kun Zhen stated and nodded, along with her friends. "We will use our magical abilities wisely and not letting the magic lost forever."

* * *

Sorry for taking this a little longer, I was pretty much in depression for a few days... and busy for other Slugterra stuffs like new slugs.

But anyway, hope you enjoy it. The ideas of this chapter is suggested by FoxyKhai0209.

Note: There are a few changes in the ending.


	15. Training for Powers

" _We need to control our powers before we step into the battlefield!" - Kun Zhen_

 **Training for Powers**

In an empty field in the Cavern of the Last East, Zhong Fen, Wei Cheng and Hai Chang set up targets and used items for their training.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Kun Zhen questioned.

Everyone looked at each other. Yong Gang playfully snapped his fingers and a flame was formed on his hand!

"How about you, Yong?" Kun Zhen suggested.

"Oh, sure!" Yong Gang cheered.

Yong Gang clenched his fist to extinguish his flame. He took a deep breath as he stared at the eight targets that surrounded him. He formed two fireballs on both of his palms and threw them at two targets, destroying them at an instance.

He then used his hands to form a bigger fireball and sent it to one of the targets. The bigger fireball demolished the target on impact. He performed the multiple fireball trick by throwing a few fireballs toward other targets in a fast pace. He finally sent out a ring of fire and set fire to the remaining two targets.

"Amazing, Yong Gang," Kun Zhen complimented him. "But remember to be careful on your fire power. You can burn things unintentionally."

"Yes, I will keep that in mind," he replied.

"Okay, Hai Chang, you up?" Kun Zhen asked.

"Yes, I am up," Hai Chang responded.

Hai Chang went to another target set up, that used wood as eight targets. He used both of his hands to form a water ball and blasted it onto a target, knocking it to the ground. He then created two water balls on his hands and sent them toward another two targets. Feeling confident, he shot out a long powerful blast of water from his palms to demolish another three targets. Now leaving only two, he blasted them with two powerful waves, destroying them.

"Awesome, Hai Chang. Just remember don't flood an entire cavern with that power of yours," Zhong Fen reminded him. He nodded.

Third was Kun Zhen. She used one of her fists to hit the ground. Crystals grew out of it and moved quickly to destroy a target, which were used metal. She opened her hand and crystals shot out from her hand, hitting some of her targets.

She closed her eyes and focused. Crystals began to cover her hands and formed a pair of crystal gloves! Kun Zhen was surprised! She decided to give the gloves a try. She leaped and smashed a target. The used metal was heavily damaged.

She turned to the remaining targets. She let her crystal gloves to face the targets. She raised her gloves fast and sharp crystal pillars rose up from the ground, destroying all of the targets left!

"This is cool," Kun Zhen said to herself.

Next was Yu Juan. They set up the proper targets for her combat skills, from high to low, and from long to short. She swiftly knocked off the targets around her range. To reach the targets located just above her, she jumped to use her hands or feet to attack them. Two remaining targets were beyond her reach. They were on top of the poles.

She climbed one of the poles up and smashed the target. She took a daring jump to the other pole, much to the shock of the team! Before she fell, she managed to get close to the target and smash it. Then, she quickly grabbed hold of the pole and slid down safely to the ground.

"Yu Juan! You scared us!" Zhong Fen exclaimed. "Please don't do that ever again!"

"Yes, yes... but come on, my combat skills are very amazing. It should not be a problem," Yu Juan defended.

"But be careful, dear..." Zhong Fen was still worried.

"Yes, mum," Yu Juan replied. With that, everyone burst out laughing.

Dong Song came in next. With used aluminium cans stacked up as his eight targets, he knew he needed to act fast. His palms projected two ice blasts for a while to freeze six out of the eight cans. He then used his hands to form an ice ball and threw it to the remaining targets. The ice ball hit them and froze them instantly.

"Well, that was fast," Dong Song said calmly and smiled.

"Let see whether I can beat your record," Suxiong Jian stated as he stood in his training area. He was surrounded by eight wooden targets.

He formed an electric ball and fired it toward a target, destroying it. His hands were surrounded by lightnings. He projected them to the other targets, burning them. He finally let out an electricity blast from his body and destroyed all of the targets around him.

"Close enough," Zhong Fen commented. "Rong Chun! You're up!"

Rong Chun went to deal with another eight aluminium cans. She noticed nearby trees and had an idea. She controlled the branches and they entangled four cans. She commanded the branches to crush the cans. Then, she whistled and her Slug Hounds came in and crushed the remaining cans with their jaws.

"Good boys~" she patted their heads.

The last was Wei Cheng. They had gathered different kinds of slugs to test him. After showing him the slugs, they blindfolded him and Yu Juan looked after him. They hid the slugs in different places, from high above trees to the underground holes. Once they were done, Yu Juan took the blindfold out. Zhong Fen told him to find the slugs. Using its tracking power, Wei Cheng was able to find all of the slugs he saw by tracking their traces.

"This is so easy!" Wei Cheng laughed.

"Hey, Zhong Fen, you haven't trained yet," Yu Juan noticed that Zhong Fen was last.

"I have trained some yesterday night. Mine is technology power," Zhong Fen explained.

"It seems we have grasped our powers now. We are pretty much ready for anything," Kun Zhen said confidently.


	16. Help from Twins

" _We are the Alexandersson twins!" - Elsu and Eara_

 **Help from Twins**

Morning came in the Cavern of the Last East. The members of Team Phoenix had woken up and were planning something.

"Let's try with the jungle caverns. We can blend in better to sneak into the fortresses," Zhong Fen suggested.

"Zhizn' Taiga Cavern and Shirengenoi Cavern are in the North Region, while the Janguru Cavern is in the East Region," Wei Cheng said.

"We can start with the Janguru Cavern, then we go to the North Region," Kun Zhen suggested.

"I can distract the Underlords this time with my nature power," Rong Chun told her team.

"And then we can save the slugs easily," Hai Chang added.

"Let's hope it works," Suxiong Jian blurted out.

* * *

Team Phoenix was in the Janguru Cavern. They blended in with the plants. Rong Chun, whose armour was green, easily blended in. The others needed plants for camouflage. They noticed the fortress, which was located around the trees.

Rong Chun raised a thumbs up. Using her nature power, she commanded a vine to curl at its end. With that, it knocked on the front door of the fortress. The Underlords were startled by it and they came out of the fortress.

Seeing them had fallen into the trap, Rong Chun controlled the vines and roots to crawl toward them. The Underlords were not aware of the plants' movements. The vines got hold of some of their wrists and brought them up. The roots, on the other hand, grabbed their ankles and pulled them. The roots and vines slammed the Underlords onto each other, knocking them unconscious.

"The Underlords are down," Rong Chun told her teammates through her earpiece.

"Good, now get inside the fortress!" Kun Zhen commanded.

Team Phoenix rushed into the fortress. Zhong Fen pressed a button beside the front door. Thanks to her technology power, she opened the door. Once they entered the fortress, Kun Zhen created a crystal sword and sliced off the heads of two Stone Warriors that guarded the front door.

With Wei Cheng using his tracking power, everyone followed him. As they walked through corridors, they destroyed Stone Warriors using their powers and new weapons created from their powers. Once they reached the storage room for slugs, they busted in and took all of the slugs that were inside the containers.

"Okay, uhm... are the Shadow Clans going to help us?" Yong Gang asked.

"Well, hopefully yes..." Hai Chang answered.

They ran toward the back door after being opened by Zhong Fen. "Should we destroy the fortress?" Yu Juan questioned.

"Yes, that's a good idea. That will make them lack of resources to fight us," Rong Chun agreed.

Hai Chang sent out a strong current of water to flood inside the fortress. Yong Gang created fireballs to damage the fortress outside and inside. Kun Zhen raised up crystals to increase the damage on the building.

Wei Cheng quickly tracked down their mecha-beasts. Dong Song created a long ice slide so they could speed up the escape with the stolen slugs. They reached their vehicles very fast and loaded up 18 slug containers. The remaining slug containers were taken by Shadow Clans who came in for assistance.

Team Phoenix quickly rode away from the cavern to a safer place. The Shadow Clans reappeared again and took away all of the slug containers that they carried.

"Hmm... why would they want to take away all of the slugs we saved here?" Yu Juan questioned.

"Well, for something important, I guess," Kun Zhen explained. "They were allies with the Eastern Champion."

"Wait, were?" Suxiong Jian and Yong Gang asked at the same time.

"Well... the Eastern Champion is gone..." Kun Zhen answered.

"Well, at least we have saved many Fandangos, Vinedrills, Polero and Bubbaleones," Zhong Fen stated.

"And some Floppers, Hoverbugs and a few Boon Docs," Dong Song added.

"Well then, we should be heading to Shirengenoi Cavern after lunch!" Rong Chun reminded everyone.

* * *

Team Phoenix, led by Wei Cheng, went north-west for Shirengenoi Cavern after lunch. It took them around two to three hours to arrive. It was another jungle-like cavern, with the fortress situated around the trees.

They used the same method to break in. Rong Chun commanded the plants to trap the Underlords. Then, they went into the fortress and saved the stolen slugs that were stored in the slug containers. They also destroyed Stone Warriors along the way, and finally damaged the fortress. After they escaped, Shadow Clans appeared out of nowhere to take the slugs.

"Huh! This plan is so easy with our new found powers!" Yu Juan exclaimed.

"Last stop: Zhizn' Taiga Cavern," Rong Chun announced.

"It is sometimes swampy there," Wei Cheng added.

"So...?" Rong Chun asked him.

"Well... just be careful," he reminded everyone.

"Whatever," she blurted out.

Wei Cheng guided Team Phoenix north as they were heading to Zhizn' Taiga Cavern. It was another jungle cavern. Rong Chun once again commanded the plants to lure the Underlords out of the fortress. She used the vines and roots to catch them and knock them unconscious. They rushed into the fortress, only to find it bigger than the other two fortresses that they encountered.

"Wow, this fortress is bigger than the last two," Zhong Fen commented since she was a Cave Troll and the biggest in the team.

"That's because I am the main Underlord in this cavern," a female voice called out, startling Team Phoenix.

Suddenly, the front door closed itself and locked up. A big figure appeared in front of them. It turned out to be a muscular woman. She had dark green eyes and a long black hair with dark green stripes that was tied into a ponytail. She wore an Underlord outfit and carried many bandoliers with her. She had two gun blaster on her belt and a powerful rifle at her back.

"Oh no..." Kun Zhen murmured worriedly.

"Who is it?" Yong Gang asked her quietly.

"It's..."

"Underlord Melora," the woman interrupted Kun Zhen.

"The wife of Underlord Jonny Man," Dong Song added.

"Wait, he's married?" Zhong Fen was shocked.

"I learned that from Anastasia," he replied.

"I thought you only guard Rabota Cavern," Kun Zhen asked Melora.

"Actually, the Emperor assigned my beloved Jonny and I to guard this cavern too since this cavern is very close to Smudge Vapor Cavern, and I can reach here very fast from Rabota Cavern," Melora corrected her.

"Wait, why you didn't come out just now?!" Rong Chun yelled.

Melora chuckled and started explaining, "You think all Underlords are that dimwit like that annoying and useless Swick? I have received news that you guys stole the slugs from Trava Steppe Cavern, and it's Team Phoenix, right?"

Some members of Team Phoenix looked fearful while some looked furious. "Please, Jonny and I were trained as soldiers in Zashchita Cavern. That was a defence cavern and it was where all the best slugslingers in the north region are trained. The Dark Slinger has destroyed it and killed off many of the soldiers that served the North Guardian, including the North Guardian himself as well," she told them.

"You... you are a traitor!" Dong Song shouted out in anger.

"The Emperor is now the ruler of the Eastern Caverns, and forever he will be the ruler!" she exclaimed.

Team Phoenix scrambled to the front door. Zhong Fen used her technology power to open it. However, they were shocked to see that their escape was blocked by many Stone Warriors. Yong Gang formed two fireballs, ready to throw them.

"Wait! If you throw them, the fire will block our way!" Kun Zhen reminded him.

Melora took out her rifle blaster. It took similar to Jonny Man's rifle blaster, but it was dark green in colour. She loaded her Geoshard and charged it up. She fired it toward the team.

"Look out!" Yu Juan cried out. Everyone dodged the Geoshard and it hit the front door, forming crystals and blocking the path.

Kun Zhen commanded the crystals to project spikes outside the door, piercing through two Stone Warriors on their chests because they got too close to the crystals.

"Run!" Kun Zhen screamed.

Everyone ran through to another path only to find it being blocked by Stone Warriors. They tried to turn back but Melora and her Stone Warriors were marching toward them. They gathered closer to each other, realizing that they were surrounded! Melora loaded another slug and was charging it. They began to take their blasters.

"Fire!" Melora commanded her Stone Warriors.

They raised their cannons and were about to shoot, when all of the sudden, a screech of a bird could be heard. The Stone Warriors that were at the back of Team Phoenix were suddenly destroyed into pieces in a split second!

To everyone's surprise, a large bird surrounded by blue and bright yellow energy around its body appeared. It had dark red feathers on its back and dark blue feathers on its underside. Its tail feathers were red, turning to yellow, and then blue at the tips. Its legs were long and thick with yellow feet that each had a digit facing backward, and three facing forward. Each digit was tipped by a short, thick, black claw.

It also had a long, thick beak with a blue cere. On either side of the cere are its eyes, which were black with small white pupils. Sprouting from above the eyes were three large, white feathers. At the base of the feathers was a red, three-pointed design that was spread across all three feathers. On each side of its face, sprouting out from behind the feathers on its forehead, were an additional three white feathers pointing horizontally and downward. Behind the three feathers on its head was a large plume of white feathers, extending most of the way down its neck. These features combined resembled a Native American war bonnet.

It then flew past the team and dashed toward the Stone Warriors that were with Melora in full speed. They were destroyed instantly. Then came another creature. It was a large bat-like creature with enormous ears suited for precise hearing. It had a mane of white fur sprouting around its neck and upper back. It had two black wings lined with a dusky purple and has maroon grasping claws. A teal membrane fanned between its ribcage and wings. When it opened its mouth, two pointed teeth could be seen on its lower jaw.

The bat-like creature was flying on top of the team. It performed _Boomburst_ as powerful sound waves were released from its large ears. Melora covered her ears and groaned in pain as the sound waves passed through her.

"Let's get out of here!" Hai Chang shouted.

"Right!" Kun Zhen agreed.

They began to run. Yong Gang, however, got hit by the sound waves and became deaf. He was unable to hear his team but he followed them. Team Phoenix ran around, trying the find the room where the stolen slugs were.

A few minutes later, they finally stumbled upon the correct room. They entered inside to find many slug containers.

"How are we going to get all of them out?!" Yu Juan was frustrated.

Two Stone Warriors marched into the room. Out of nowhere, two lime green spheres collided with them, causing explosions. The team turned to the source of the attacks. They saw two figures that were wearing black cloaks. The cloaks covered their whole bodies. Their cloaks' hoodies even covered their faces.

"Who are you two?" Suxiong Jian questioned them.

The hooded figures did not answer. They only opened two slug containers to release the slugs.

"I think they want us to release the slugs..." Kun Zhen guessed.

Team Phoenix responded by opening all of the slug containers. Yong Gang, who had lost his hearing ability, followed their actions. The slugs all hopped out of them. All of the sudden, a few Shadow Clans appeared in the room. They extended their hands and slugs hopped onto their palms. Some slugs even climbed onto their heads, backs and tails. When all of the slugs were rescued, the Shadow Clans teleported themselves and the slugs away.

"Azura!" one of the hooded figures called out. The voice belonged to a female.

The bat-like creature that previously attacked Melora came inside the room. The large bird also entered the room too. Azura used _Dragon Pulse_ and opened her mouth. A turquoise energy ball appeared in front of her. She then fired the ball at the wall. It caused an explosion and a huge hole was formed. The hooded figures immediately sat on the two creatures and flew out through the hole. Team Phoenix noticed that their mecha-beasts were outside the hole. They escaped through the hole and hopped onto their vehicles. They activated the engines and went off full speed ahead.

* * *

Around half an hour later, Team Phoenix and the two mysterious hooded figures were faraway from Zhizn' Taiga Cavern. They took cover in a forest. When they deactivated their vehicles, the two creatures landed safely and the two unexpected heroes hopped off of them.

"Who are you two?" Kun Zhen asked them.

The two strangers pulled off their hoods. One was a boy, another was a girl. The boy had spiky black hair, pale skin, and green eyes. He wore a scarlet t-shirt base layer, dark red jacket over his t-shirt base layer, black collar around his neck, blue jeans, and blue sneakers. The girl shared the skin and eye colours with the boy. She had a black waist-length hair. She wore a magenta camisole base layer, pink vest underneath her camisole base layer, white neck tie, magenta petticoat skirt, white leggings underneath her petticoat skirt, and black sandals.

"I am Elsu Alexandersson," the boy introduced.

"And I am Eara Alexandersson," the girl introduced.

"So... you two are... brother and sister?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"Well... we are twins," Eara explained.

"I am older than her," Elsu added playfully.

"Wait, how did you two..." Zhong Fen was lost of words.

"We saw you guys went inside the cavern and the fortress," Elsu replied.

"And we wanted to help," Eara added.

Dong Song was carefully examining the creatures. "Excuse me, what are these creatures? I have never seen them before," he asked the Alexandersson twins.

"This is a Warrgle," Elsu explained as he pointed at the large bird creature. "He is my pet. I name him Celous." He then turned to the bat-like creature. "This is an Onvern. Her name is Azura and she is Eara's pet."

"I thank you two and your pets for saving our lives there," Kun Zhen thanked them and bowed down. "We didn't know that Melora was there."

"Huh? What is happening here?" Yong Gang questioned.

"Oops. I think he got hit by Azura's sound attack that made him deaf," Eara blurted out.

"Oh my... is he... going to be... alright?" Kun Zhen asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. He will recover after 1 or 2 hours," Eara answered.

Night came fast. They decided to set up a camp. Zhong Fen went to talk to the twins.

"You know... I saw your hands glowed lime green... similar to the lime green spheres that destroyed the Stone Warriors..." Zhong Fen told them. "So... are you two...?"

"Well... we possess technology manipulation when we were born," Eara responded while Elsu nodded in agreement.

"Wow... I am impressed by your powers of technologies," Zhong Fen stated, "I also have the same power as you two, but I didn't know that it can do attacks like that just now."

"Well, besides fixing machines, you can create projectiles and blasts of technology. You can also use it to create pillars, spikes, vortexes and waves for defense. You can even upgrade a machine," Elsu explained.

"Wow... how can I do all of them?" Zhong Fen questioned in curiosity.

"Well, you need to practice them. But be careful, they can drain your energy and you will feel tired..." Eara answered.

"Can you two... teach me?" she asked.

"Yes, sure," Elsu replied. He and his twin sister nodded.

"Uh, not to bother you three, but... where do you two come from?" Suxiong Jian asked the twins.

"We are from Nauka Cavern," Elsu answered.

"Hey, isn't that cavern in the North Region?" Wei Cheng tried to recall.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"We couldn't thank you two enough. We could need skills like you two to fight against the Emperor and his army of Stone Warriors and Underlords. There are still some room for you two... if you want to join the team," Kun Zhen told the twins.

"Well, since we know about the Emperor... so... yes! Sure, we will join your team!" the twins answered.

"But... what about your cavern?" Wei Cheng felt concerned.

"Our cavern is very cold. It is also hidden deep within the icy mountain. So no Underlords will find out," Eara explained.

"Plus, that place is dangerous. No one can't survive when a massive snow storm rages on. And we have a mythical guardian to protect it. Our cavern is very safe. We are very sure of it," Elsu added.

"But isn't Nauka Cavern a scientific cavern?" Wei Cheng asked.

"Yes, it is," the twins responded.

"Well, then. Welcome to the team, Elsu and Eara," Kun Zhen welcomed them.

* * *

Sorry for the wait. I was having some mood swings and my holidays are over.

Zhizn' Taiga Cavern: Zhizn' means "life" in Russian. Taiga is a sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.

Shirengenoi Cavern: Shirengen oi means "jungle" in Mongolian.

Janguru Cavern: Janguru means "jungle" in Japanese.

Nauka Cavern: Nauka means "science" in Russian.

The Alexandersson twins belong to FoxyKhai0209, while Melora is a character I made, but the name is suggested by her. We are working on chapter 17.


	17. The Magical Mirror

" _The mirror I gave you is no ordinary mirror." - Hisoka Kurosawa_

 **The Magical Mirror**

Team Phoenix was on the way to a cavern called Kagami Cavern, which was located at the East Region. They were driving their mecha-beasts. Elsu and Eara, on the other hand, rode on their pets.

"What is Kagami Cavern?" Yong Gang asked curiously.

"The cavern produces mirrors, hence, its name Kagami Cavern. Kagami means mirror in Japanese," Kun Zhen explained.

"And why are we going to Kagami Cavern, Wei Cheng?" Suxiong Jian questioned.

"Master Wu wants us to meet his old friend named Hisoka Kurosawa," Wei Cheng answered.

"Hisoka owns a store called Kagami Shop and she has something to give us," Zhong Fen added.

When they arrived at Kagami Cavern, they saw the people were doing their work, mainly producing mirrors and frames.

"Wow, the people of Kagami Cavern are working hard," Yong Gang said.

Kun Zhen spotted a store that had a sign written as "Kagami Shop". "Hey, guys. I found the shop that we are looking for," she told them.

Then, they parked their mecha-beasts in front of the shop and entered the shop. The shop sold mirrors. Various mirrors with different designs were hung on the walls. The shelves were also filled with mirrors. They looked around to find Hisoka but she was not there.

Suxiong Jian was looking at an oval shape mirror and he made some funny faces.

"May I help you?" a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him.

He was startled by it and turned around quickly. He noticed a woman standing in front of him.

The woman had light brown knee-length hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. She wore a black and blue casual dress with a white belt around the dress' hips, black collar around her neck, two pearl bracelets strapped on both of her wrists, and black sandals.

"Are you Hisoka Kurosawa?" Suxiong Jian asked her.

"Yes. I am Hisoka Kurosawa," the woman replied.

Dong Song came up to her. "You must be an old friend of Master Wu, right?" he questioned and Hisoka nodded.

Dong Song was about to say something when Hisoka said "Wait here for a moment." She walked to the back of her store. A few seconds later, she returned with a white case.

"Master Wu told me about you all coming here to retrieve this," Hisoka said and then opened the case, revealing a silvery mirror handheld.

She gave the mirror to Eara. "Why you give us the mirror?" Eara asked.

"The mirror I gave you is no ordinary mirror," Hisoka explained.

"But it looks normal," Rong Chun blurted out.

"You will all find out later," Hisoka said.

Later, Team Phoenix left Kagami Cavern with the mirror handheld given by Hisoka.

"I don't understand. Why Hisoka gave the mirror to us?" a confused Hai Chang questioned.

Elsu shrugged and said, "I have no idea."

"Eara, where's the mirror?" Yu Juan asked.

"It is in my bag for safe keeping," Eara answered.

"Hey, guys, have you ever wonder something?" Zhong Fen suddenly asked.

"What is it, Zhong Fen?" Kun Zhen wanted to know.

"Well... we have been fighting against the Emperor for more than 10 years... and still nobody can defeat him..."

"Yang and his team were the only people who defeated him," Wei Cheng said.

"Yes... Yang is the first Eastern Champion, and all of his descendants are powerful like him," Yong Gang added.

"But this current Eastern Champion is dead! The Dark Slinger killed him! How could that be?!" Rong Chun raged.

Zhong Fen sighed and said, "I wonder what happened to the Eastern Champion now... If only we could find the truth about the Dark Slinger who killed him."

Once she said that, the mirror inside Eara's bag, glowed in white as it reacted. The light shone through Eara's bag.

"Eara, there is light shining through your bag!" Yu Juan noticed it.

Eara opened her bag and took out the mirror that was still glowing.

"What's happening to the mirror?" Rong Chun was confused.

The mirror continued to shine brightly, blinding the members of Team Phoenix.

As the bright light died down, they looked back at the mirror. They saw images of the Eastern Champion through the mirror! Moreover, sounds and voices could also be heard from the mirror!

The mirror showed Peach Blossom Spring Cavern, the home cavern of the Eastern Champion. The Stone Warriors were coming out from a hole of a mountain. They were attacking like a swarm of bees. The Eastern Champion, Junjie had a tough time fighting them off. Some people came in to help, including the Shadow Clans, Master Lian, Junjie's mentor and Hamengku, his best friend. However, the results were still the same.

Then, the Emperor appeared. Junjie tried to defeat him using his Infurnus Joo-Joo and Slug Fu, but to no avail. The Emperor eventually used his dark magic on Joo-Joo, turning it into a corrupted slug. Joo-Joo went against Junjie and knocked him off balance. The Emperor activated his sword blaster and a slug that looked like an evil Boon Doc was inside the barrel. He fired the evil Boon Doc and it hit Junjie, knocking him down! Junjie was seen groaning in pain. His body was twitching like he was having a nightmare. Not long after, Junjie was seen... as the Dark Slinger!

Team Phoenix gasped in fear and shock as they finally found out the truth about what happened to the Eastern Champion. He had became the Dark Slinger because of the evil Boon Doc controlling him as a puppet!

Team Phoenix found it hard to believe the truth. How could the Eastern Champion fell into the control of the evil slug and the Emperor, turning against his people?

"The... The Eastern Champion... _is_ the Dark Slinger!" Kun Zhen exclaimed with a shaken voice after finding out the truth.

"It... it can't be..." Zhong Fen went speechless.

"But... is it true?" Yu Juan was skeptical.

"But if it is true, how the mirror is able to find out the truth?" Dong Song wondered.

"Maybe we can ask Master Wu about it," Hai Chang suggested.

With that, they rode their vehicles and pets as fast as they could. Once they reached the Cavern of the Last East, they scrambled to find Master Wu.

"Master Wu! Master Wu!" they shouted.

"Woah, calm down, calm down..." Master Wu stated. "What seems to be the problem?"

"We found out about what happened to the Eastern Champion!" Wei Cheng responded.

"Ah, you all have the mirror now, right?" Master Wu asked.

"Yes!" Kun Zhen replied.

"Then come in," Master Wu stated as he let Team Phoenix enter his hut.

* * *

This chapter is an idea of FoxyKhai0209, and more will be discuss in the next chapter.


	18. History of the Magical Mirror

" _The mirror never lies. It always shows the truth, the real truth." – Master Wu_

 **History of the Magical Mirror**

In Master Wu's hut, Team Phoenix explained to Master Wu about the truth of the Dark Slinger, who was being controlled by an evil Goon Doc. The mirror had showed them the dark truth of the Eastern Champion. Master Wu clearly understood them.

Suddenly, Rong Chun questioned him, "Master Wu, what if the mirror is... lying about the truth?"

"Yeah, maybe it is all fake!" Yu Juan agreed with her.

Master Wu replied, "The mirror never lies. It always shows the truth, the real truth." His reply shocked Rong Chun, even Yu Juan.

"Why did you send us to visit your old friend Hisoka?" Wei Cheng asked him.

"I had been keeping a secret from all of you for a long time and I couldn't tell the truth about the Eastern Champion. That's why I told you all to go to Kagami Cavern to visit my old friend. Because of the mirror Hisoka had and now she gave it to you all. It can answer all the difficult questions," Master Wu told them.

"Why can't you tell us instead of the mirror?" Kun Zhen suddenly asked.

Master Wu sighed and explained to her, "All the answers are difficult for me. Only the magical mirror knows."

"I see... Can you tell us more about the mirror?" Zhong Fen said.

"I do not know about magical mirrors. But my old friend does," Master Wu told her.

"Let's head back to Kagami Cavern and talk to Hisoka about the mirror she gave us," Wei Cheng suggested. With that, Team Phoenix headed back to Kagami Cavern.

"I hope Hisoka doesn't go somewhere to avoid us and our answers," Elsu hoped as Team Phoenix was heading to Kagami Cavern.

When they reached Kagami Cavern, they immediately headed to Hisoka's shop. When they got there, they entered the shop but Hisoka wasn't there.

"Where is she?" Eara wondered as Team Phoenix searched around the shop to look for Hisoka. However, she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she anyway?" Yu Juan wondered too.

That's when Team Phoenix heard a voice from behind, saying, "Why are you all here?" The voice startled them. They turned around and saw Hisoka.

Kun Zhen was glad. "Hisoka, we are so glad we found you!" she exclaimed.

Yong Gang was about to say about the mirror but Hisoka guessed by saying, "I know you all are wondering about mirror I gave you. I will you tell you everything about the mirror."

Team Phoenix was surprised by her words as if she knew about the discovery of the mirror's magical abilities.

"Follow me to the back of my shop," Hisoka told them. She led Team Phoenix to the back of her shop. There was a door and Hisoka opened it to let them in. She then led them to a living room. The living room looked like it was a Japanese style one.

"Take a seat," Hisoka told them politely. She began to speak about the mirror that she gave it to Team Phoenix.

"The mirror that I gave you... like I told you before, is no ordinary mirror. It can answer all of your questions as it lets you see the pasts," Hisoka said and Team Phoenix was shocked to hear it but she continued on, "The mirror can also show you the present and the future. The mirror has the ability to see the past, present, and future by seeing through its reflection. It can also guide you... in where the Underlords will do to capture all the slugs and where they will strike their attacks in caverns." Her explanation really shocked Team Phoenix.

"Where did you get the mirror," Hai Chang questioned her.

"It was given by a mysterious woman in white cloak before she disappeared suddenly. But before she disappeared, she told me that the mirror can answer all of the difficult questions that I had before," Hisoka answered.

"Then, what were your questions?" Wei Cheng asked her.

"I was having a hard time to solve my family problems. My family had no money to pay all of the bills. Then, the mirror showed me the way how to solve my family problems and pay all the bills. I went to an old mine that had gold before. Then, I was able to find some gold and successfully paid all the bills for my family, and everything went well again," she told him.

Team Phoenix was awed to hear her story. "Then, why did you give the mirror to us?" Yong Gang asked.

"I no longer use it anymore. My family problems were over," she replied.

"So... where did you meet Master Wu," Suxiong Jian questioned.

"I met Master Wu in my cavern," she said. "I told him everything about the mirror."

"That explains why Master Wu wanted us to retrieve the mirror from Hisoka," Eara realized.

"Yes. He thinks that you all will be able to defeat the Emperor with a guide of the mirror. You just ask it and it will react to your questions," Hisoka said. "But... be careful not to lose it and break it. If it breaks... its magical abilities will be lost forever," She warned them.

"Yes, we will. Thank you, Hisoka," Wei Cheng thanked her.

With that, they thanked Hisoka about the mirror and left her shop. After Team Phoenix left Kagami Cavern, Kun Zhen had an idea. "Hey, how about we use the mirror to get more information about the Emperor and the Dark Slinger?" she suggested.

"That is a great idea, Kun!" Zhong Fen agreed with her. "We might be able to defeat the Emperor and free the Eastern Champion from the Goon Doc!"

* * *

Forgive me for not updating Team Phoenix for some time. I was busy writing other short stories, and my studies. Plus, this chapter was supposed to be shorter, but FoxyKhai0209 decided to rewrite it.

The next chapter will be about questions and answers for the mirror.


	19. Beneath the Mask

" _I will protect you, Amada." - Wei Cheng_

 **Beneath the Mask**

It was night. Team Phoenix was camping and planning on going to the next cavern to free the slugs from the Underlords. Wei Cheng was holding the mirror.

Yu Juan realized something. "Hey, what if we ask the mirror about the little girl from the photo that the Mysterious Mask-Man left it?" she suggested.

"I had thought of that too," Zhong Fen said. "We wanted to know about the little girl who is tasked to protect her home cavern: Marinatopia." Everyone nodded.

Wei Cheng held the mirror and asked it, "Mirror, tells us about the Protector of Marinatopia."

With that, the mirror reacted and glowed in white. As the light died down, Team Phoenix saw an eleven years old girl through the mirror. Wei Cheng remembered the 11 years old girl's name as Khai. She was now different from the photo. The mirror showed a beautiful cavern called... Marinatopia.

Team Phoenix were awed to see Marinatopia's beauty. The mirror showed all the areas of Marinatopia and new slugs that Team Phoenix had never seen them before. Rong Chun was admiring Marinatopia's beautiful nature areas, while Dong Song was admiring Marinatopia's ice and snow areas. Hai Chang was awed to see Marinatopia's sea areas, while Yong Gang was awed to see Marinatopia's volcanic areas.

Then, Team Phoenix saw Khai with an Infurnus. Its skin was scarlet, its eyes were blue, it had pink eyeliner beside its eyes as its marks. Team Phoenix was shocked to see another Infurnus, but the Infurnus looked different than other Infurnus Slugs. Khai called her Infurnus as Flare. They soon realized that Khai would soon be the Protector of Marinatopia. And with that, the mirror ended the past. Team Phoenix was amazed by it.

"Mirror, how do we free the Dark Slinger from the Goon?" Kun Zhen asked her question.

The mirror responded by showing four silhouettes. The first silhouette was a teenage boy, the second one was a Cave Troll, the third one was a teenage girl with pigtails, and the fourth one was an unknown round and short figure. The mirror also showed where they were from: a different set of caverns. Team Phoenix was amazed to see most of the caverns were industrialized and urbanized. The mirror changed its scene and showed the four silhouettes freed the Dark Slinger from the Goon. They wondered who they were after the mirror went back to normal.

"Okay, mirror. What is the Emperor's plan?" Zhong Fen questioned.

The mirror showed the Imperial Palace at Peach Blossom Spring Cavern. The Emperor was at the top of the palace. The slug barrels that contained all of the slugs in The Eastern Caverns lighted up blue. The top parts of the building spread open and were floating mid-air. The Emperor raised his hand and a big sphere of blue slug energy began to gather in front of him. After a while, he activated his sword blaster and fired a Cryptogrif towards the ball of slug energy. The corrupted Hypnogrif slug turned the blue slug energy into red. The red energy spread across The Eastern Caverns. Everyone, including them, had their appearances changed. They had black eyes with red irises, pale green skin, and cracks appeared on their skins! They groaned in pain and were slowly becoming under the Emperor's control!

Team Phoenix gasped in horror at the sight of the Emperor's evil plan. He was planning to twist everyone into his will, like how the Goon did to Junjie!

"Uh... mirror...? How do we defeat the Emperor for good?" Suxiong Jian quickly asked.

The mirror shone and showed the final battle with the Emperor. He was seen falling into the Guardian Gate, just like how Yang and his team defeated him. However, he did not fall back 18 levels below Peach Blossom Spring Cavern. Instead, he was sealed away in an alternate dimension. He tried to reach his sword blaster but the extreme cold prevented him from doing so. He slowly turned into stone and then he was frozen, encased with ice.

"Okay, okay. Mirror, tell me, am I the Phoenix? The real Phoenix?" Rong Chun questioned proudly and with sass.

Strangely, the mirror didn't react. It just stayed normal.

Rong Chun cleared her throat and said, "Oh, mirror~ Am I the real Phoenix?"

The mirror still stayed the same. Silent.

"Hey, mirror! Answer me!" she yelled angrily, but she got no response.

"Strange. Hisoka never mention about it before," Yong Gang blurted out.

"Hmm... I wonder why..." Wei Cheng said. Team Phoenix wondered why the mirror didn't react to that question.

Before they could ask more questions, some slugs fire were heard nearby. A Mask-Woman was running away from some Underlords. Her mask was black in colour. She had a golden ankle-length hair, light skin, and forest green eyes. She wore a simple forest green shirt base layer, white vest underneath her shirt base layer, black short pants, and dark brown boots. A bandolier was strapped around her waist which could carry 5 slug tubes. She also carried a forest green sling bag that stored 25 slug tubes, and an archer bow blaster.

She was overwhelmed by the Underlords. Team Phoenix saw it and helped her out. They used their magical accessories to defeat all the Underlords.

Hai Chang sent out a blast of water to an Underlord, pushing him off balance. Yong Gang threw some fireballs and the fire stopped them from moving forward. They fired their slugs and Kun Zhen summoned a diamond wall to protect her team from the slugs. Rong Chun managed to command some vines to attack two Underlords from behind.

One slug flew over the wall and was about to hit Wei Cheng! He swung his arms forward to protect himself. All of the sudden, a powerful gust of wind was produced and the slug was blown away. Moreover, the wind produced by Wei Cheng flew towards the Underlords and blew them away! The Underlords were knocked out!

Wei Cheng was shocked and awed to discover his new magic powers: air! The other Team Phoenix members were surprised too! Wei Cheng faced the masked woman, who looked tired after the chase.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, but she could not reply. She collapsed due to exhaustion and he caught her on time.

"What's wrong with her?" Yu Juan asked.

"She looked so tired now after the chase," Wei Cheng answered.

Team Phoenix took her to their camp. She was laid down on a sleeping bag.

"Hmm... who is she anyway?" Eara wondered.

"And why is she wearing a mask?" Yu Juan added.

She wanted to remove it but Wei Cheng stopped her. "No, it's not best to remove the woman's mask. We need to respect her privacy," he advised her.

Half an hour later, the masked woman finally woke up. Team Phoenix noticed that she was awake and gathered around her.

"Are you okay, lady?" Wei Cheng asked her politely.

"Yes... I am feeling fine now," the masked woman replied.

"What is your name?" Kun Zhen questioned her.

"My name... is Amada," the masked woman answered.

"Why the Underlords were after you, Amada?" Kun Zhen asked her.

"The Underlords were after me because I was sabotaging Underlord Amado's plans," she explained.

Kun Zhen was shocked when she mentioned Amado's name. "Who is this Amado?" Yong Gang wondered.

"Amado is a psycho Underlord and he is very dangerous man. He uses a Toxis Slug because it can make acids, which is dangerous," Kun Zhen explained.

"We never encounter him before," Elsu said.

"Amado is a powerful Underlord because he is an insane man. When he uses his Toxis Slug it destroys everything with its acid attacks. I do not want any of us getting hurt by him," Kun Zhen added. Team Phoenix was frightened about Amado after the explanation of Kun Zhen.

"Amado and the other Underlords captured all of the slugs. They are taken to Seiyo Cavern," Amada said.

"I know that cavern. It is not far away from here," Wei Cheng stated.

"We can help Amada to free all the slugs," Suxiong Jian suggested.

"Yeah! That's already our plan, right?" Hai Chang agreed.

"So we will go there by morning?" Dong Song guessed.

"Yes," Rong Chun replied. "Tomorrow."

"Well then, we should sleep now," Zhong Fen announced. "If we want to save the slugs."

"I agree," Elsu blurted out.

With that, the members of Team Phoenix went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Team Phoenix woke up and had breakfast. Wei Cheng noticed Amada distanced herself from them. He went towards her.

"Amada... don't mind if I ask you... why are you... wearing that mask?" he questioned her.

"It's not the best to answer that," Amada replied. Wei Cheng just stared at her in confusion.

"Why are you hiding your face?" he asked her but Amada went silent and could not answer his question.

"So... uh... don't mind if I ask about... Amado?" Wei Cheng then asked that.

"Amado is a freak and a crazy man. He is a very dangerous man like Kun Zhen said before. And... he's my ex-boyfriend," Amada said.

Wei Cheng was shocked to hear that! "Amado used his Toxis Slug to ruin my face and my face became hideous. That's why I wear the mask all the time and never remove it because it will freak everyone out," Amada revealed.

Wei Cheng could see the sadness in her eyes through her mask's eye holes. He comforted her by saying, "I'm so sorry, Amada. I can guess that your face used to be beautiful. But... don't worry. I am here to help you out."

His words tensed up Amada but she said nothing. Amada felt something odd about Wei Cheng as if she had some feelings towards him.

Wei Cheng was about to say something when Suxiong Jian came up to them. "Hey, we are going to Seiyo Cavern now," he informed them.

They packed up their stuffs and under Wei Cheng's lead, they headed to Seiyo Cavern. While on their way, Amada was riding with Wei Cheng and she said something about Seiyo Cavern. "Seiyo Cavern... is where my ex-boyfriend Amado lived," she said.

Team Phoenix was shocked to hear that, even Kun Zhen too!

"Why Amado is your ex-boyfriend?" Eara questioned Amada.

"Amado has done very badly to Amada's face, making it hideous because of his Toxis Slug," Wei Cheng helped Amada to explain. They were shocked to hear it. "Amada needs her mask to hide her hideous face from everyone, even us, because her face might scare us a lot..."

"Why can't a Boon Doc or a White Boon Doc heal her face?" Yu Juan suddenly said.

"Healer slugs cannot heal my face due to acid. Even my White Boon Doc could not heal my face," Amada explained. Team Phoenix felt so sorry for Amada.

Later, they arrived at Seiyo Cavern. "Seiyo means 'west' in Japanese," Wei Cheng stated. "This cavern in the East Region is pretty close to the West Region."

"We need a plan of how to get into the fortress. According to Hai Chang, it is surrounded by a river with Cavern Sharks," Kun Zhen explained. "There is a way to get across and it is the bridge. Though, the bridge is upwards and we cannot get across."

She turned to Rong Chun. "Rong Chun, can you create a bridge using your plant magic?" she asked her.

"Sure," Rong Chun replied and created a bridge made out of plants. They safely went across the river that had a lot of Cavern Sharks. They then sneakily entered the fortress.

In the fortress, they tried their best to avoid being seen by Underlords, especially Amado. They found five storerooms that were filled with slugs. To get them out as soon as possible, the members split out.

Team Phoenix tried their best to set the slugs free as fast as possible. The Shadow Clans appeared to have them take the slugs to safety. Everything went as planned until an Underlord spotted them and reported to Amado! As Amado gathered his goons and Stone Warriors, Team Phoenix and the Shadow Clans desperately sped up their rescue plan. Wei Cheng and Amada were separated from Team Phoenix because there were in one of the five storage rooms that kept all the stolen slugs.

Suddenly, a few Shadow Clans came to their aid and rescued the slugs. As Team Phoenix escaped, they dueled with the Underlords and Stone Warriors. Wei Cheng and Amada tried to escape too, but they were spotted by Amado. Amado had a black waist-length hair, pale skin, and scarlet eyes. He wore an Underlord outfit. His uscles were quite huge and he still had a slender body. He also wore a lot of bandoliers.

Amado took out a Gatling gun blaster with 10 slug tubes inside, which was called the Multiple SB blaster. He shot multiple slugs towards Wei Cheng and Amada! They dodged all the slug fires and they shot their slugs at him. However, Amado overwhelmed them by firing more and more slugs.

Wei Cheng had enough of this. So he used his air magic and created a massive wind to blow all the slugs away! Amado was shocked to see that. "That's a fake, kid! Nice try!" he mockingly said to Wei Cheng.

Then, he turned to Amada. "Oh, Amada. You are such a foolish and naive girl for falling in love with me in the first place... And now your beautiful face is ruined thanks to my Toxis Slug!" he mocked her. That made Amada very hurt.

"Oh, will you SHUT UP!" Wei Cheng yelled at him angrily as he defended her. "You don't have the love for her. You just used her! But I care for her! I respect her! And you are nothing but a psycho freak!" Wei Cheng's words shocked Amado, even Amada too!

Amado became so furious at Wei Cheng that he cared about Amada than him. He loaded his favourite slug, a Toxis slug. He slung it and it transformed into a lime green eel. It headed towards Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng used his air magic to push the Toxis away. He blew it away through a nearby window. The Toxis slug dove into the river and got eaten alive by a baby Cavern Shark!

"No! My Toxis slug! HOW DARE YOU!" Amado was shocked that he lost his favourite slug and he became more insane. He shot a lot of slugs at Wei Cheng and Amada! Nevertheless, they managed to dodge all his slugs and they fled out of the storeroom.

Meanwhile, Team Phoenix managed to escape the fortress. Kun Zhen called Wei Cheng through the earpiece. "Wei Cheng, where are you now?" she asked.

"Amada and I are being pursued by Amado and his Underlords! Don't worry, we will escape soon," he told her.

Wei Cheng and Amada were running down the hallway to avoid being caught by the Underlords. They managed to lose them and they suddenly saw Amado up ahead in the hallway. "You will pay for this!" Amado exclaimed as he had a blade in his hand and pointed at Wei Cheng and Amada.

"NO!" Wei Cheng shoved him out of the way by kneeing him in the stomach! Amado went backwards and his back hit the wall after Wei Cheng gave him a full force shove. Wei Cheng and Amada continued running away while Amado recovered from his stomach pain since Wei Cheng kneed him hard.

Wei Cheng and Amada entered a room and he shut the door and locked it. They were both panting after all the chase. Suddenly, they heard the door began to bang as they heard Amado shouting, "Open up!" as he tried to open the door.

Wei Cheng cursed a word under his breath. He looked around to find a way out. Then, he spotted the window. He quickly went over it and opened the window. He leaned over the window sill and looked over the side, and saw another window from the other side. He stepped out the window.

"Follow me," he said to Amada.

The two went through the window and carefully made their way to the other window. Then, Amado kicked the locked door open and entered. He saw no sign of his enemies but he did noticed the window was left open.

As Amado continued to pursue Wei Cheng and Amada, the two were on the slippery window ledge to escape through the other side of the window. It was slippery because of a broken water pipe. Wei Cheng made it to the other side and turned to Amada. "Be careful. Don't slip off the window ledge," he told her.

All of the sudden, Amado appeared from the window that Wei Cheng and Amada came out. He turned his head and spotted them. His nose was bleeding after Wei Cheng kneed him.

"There you are!" Amado said as he chuckled insanely at them. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" He yelled. He leaned and swung his blade at Amada to kill her! Wei Cheng quickly grabbed her arm just in time and pulled her away from Amado's attack.

However, Amado slipped off and lost balance. He fell to the ground and landed so hard that caused his neck to break! Wei Cheng and Amada were horrified! They stared down at his unmovable body lying on the ground. Then, Wei Cheng realized Amado was... dead. Wei Cheng and Amada climbed down from the slippery window ledge and went over Amado's dead body. They just stared at the dead body of Amado.

"Wei Cheng! Amada!" they heard Team Phoenix calling their names. They found Wei Cheng and Amada, and the dead body of Amado. They were horrified to see Amado's dead body.

"He died after he fell from the slippery window ledge when he tried to kill Amada," Wei Cheng explained to them.

"So... what should we do?" Yu Juan questioned.

"We will bury him. So no one will find out about his death," Kun Zhen stated.

With that, Hai Chang and Elsu took the dead body of Amado and buried it somewhere so no one would find out about his death. Then, they headed back to the Cavern of the Last East, which would take them 20 minutes.

When they arrived, Kun Zhen informed Master Wu about Amado's death, which was enough to bring shock to the Slug Fu Master. "Amado is pure evil and he has trouble controlling himself due to his psychopathic personalities," Master Wu told her.

2 hours later since Amado's death, Amada was alone in Master Wu's hut. She was feeling a bit traumatized after what had happened to her ex-boyfriend. Wei Cheng entered the hut and saw her. He came over to her and told her, "Amada. I was looking for you."

He noticed the fright within her eyes. "What's wrong?" Wei Cheng asked her.

"I... am a bit terrified... after seeing Amado's death," Amada explained.

"Amado is a dangerous man and he is gone for good now. He will no longer torment you anymore," he comforted her.

"Yes, yes... But I felt... like I am being haunted by him..." Amada said.

Suddenly, Wei Cheng gave her a hug, much to her surprise! "He will not haunt you. I am here for you. No matter where you are, I will be there by your side to protect you," Wei Cheng promised to Amada.

Amada was shocked by his words. Wei Cheng kissed Amada for the first time and she was shocked! But she returned his kiss. Once they broke the kiss, Wei Cheng removed her mask!

"Wei... Wei Cheng!" Amada yelped as she covered her face with her hands quickly.

"It is okay, Amada," Wei Cheng told her.

"No! My face is ugly and hideous!" she refused.

"No... your face is... beautiful," he corrected her. His words shocked her.

Wei Cheng used the magical mirror to let her see her reflection. When Amada looked at herself in the magical mirror, to her utmost shock, her face was indeed beautiful!

Amada was completely confused and shocked to see her face was once again beautiful. "But... but how? My face is always hideous because Amado used his Toxis Slug and its acid attack on me, and ruined my face. But now... my face is beautiful again like it was before," she said.

Then, a voice came in and said, "It is because of love." The voice belonged to Master Wu.

"The Element of Love states that love is the true strength," Master Wu explained to Wei Cheng and Amada. "Love can restore beauty with a true love's kiss when a couple falls in love with each other and it is true love."

The two were shocked to hear that. Amada realized that Wei Cheng was her true love, not her insane ex-boyfriend Amado.

"So... Amada... will you join... Team Phoenix?" Wei Cheng asked.

"You don't need to ask. Of course I wanted to join in. Because I wanted to be with you, Wei Cheng," Amada answered.

Wei Cheng was happy to hear that his new girlfriend joined Team Phoenix. Amada was finally free from her ex-boyfriend's torment and created a new life with her new lover, Wei Cheng.


	20. Marinatopia's Protector in The East

" _Slugs do not belong to evil. They belong to those who have pure hearts and live in harmony." – Khai_

 **Marinatopia's Protector in The East**

Somewhere in The Eastern Caverns, there was a young girl running through the forest caverns. She looked like around eleven years old. She had thick shoulder-length black hair with a pink rose hairclip on the right side of her hair, dark brown eyes, and fair skin. She wore a fuchsia pink blouse with puffy sleeves, pale blue medium skirt with patterns of pink cherry blossoms, a pair of azure gloves, dark pink socks with blue dots, and brilliant rose sporty shoes. Around her neck was a pendant with two charms that shaped like a shooting star and a moon crescent. A bandolier was strapped on her chest, which carried 4 slug tubes. She also carried a gold backpack.

Beside her, was a quadruped, mammalian animal covered primarily in pale cream-coloured fur with pinkish feet, ears, and tail. There were two bows on its body, one on its left ear and one around its neck, from which two feelers adorned it. The bows were pale cream with pinkish centers, while the feelers were pale cream with pinkish and blue tips. It had short, slender legs and small paws with three visible toes on each foot. Its eyes were blue with white pupils and no visible sclera. Its furry pinkish tail was slightly curved in a crescent shape.

The girl stopped for a while, catching her breath. Suddenly, voices could be heard coming from outside the forest. The voices belonged to the Underlords. The girl was startled by the voices and grew scared. She and her pet ran further into the woods. It turned out that they were chased by Underlords after she had set free all of the stolen slugs when she sneaked into the fortress in Chie Cavern. One of the Underlords caught her but she punched him on the face, knocking him unconscious, which surprised others.

She successfully lost them in the woods, but she knew they might catch her eventually. She hoped that help would come soon before they found her. She and her pet hid behind a thick tree, praying that they would be rescued.

All of the sudden, shots were heard and the Underlords scrambled. Their groans and screams echoed throughout the woods. The girl wondered what was happening as she could not bear to see the battle.

Then, it stopped. The girl guessed that the Underlords were defeated or they retreated. Footsteps could be heard and they were coming into the forest. The girl was scared, afraid that bad guys were coming to her. Her pet stood in front of her, willing to protect her.

When the slingers appeared in front of her, they were not wearing Underlords' outfit. They were mostly humans, but there was a Cave Troll, an Amphibanoid and an elf. "Are you okay?" Kun Zhen asked her.

"Yes... I am," she replied.

"Don't worry, you are safe now," Yong Gang assured.

A pair of twins, along with their pets were amazed to see the girl's pet. The twins' pets approached her pet out of curiosity.

"Is that your pet?" the male twin, Elsu questioned the girl.

"Yes, she is my pet," the girl answered.

"What is her name?" the female twin, Eara asked.

"Her name is Fairy. She is a Nymphia," she responded.

"By the way, what is your name?" Yu Juan quickly asked.

"My name is Charrize Antoinette Reyes. But you can call me Khai," the girl introduced herself.

"Where are you from?" Zhong Fen added.

"I am from Marinatopia," Khai answered.

"Marinatopia?!" all of the slingers were shocked to hear that.

"I thought it was only a legend!" Wei Cheng exclaimed.

"Are you sure she is from that mystical land?" Rong Chun was skeptical. "And why is she in The Eastern Caverns?"

"Yes, Marinatopia is real!" Khai defended.

"Real or not, I am just wondering why she is in the forest," Hai Chang said.

"And why the Underlords are around outside the forest," Amada added.

"The Underlords? Are they the ones who stole the slugs?" Khai guessed.

"Yes," Dong Song agreed. "They stole the slugs for the Emperor."

"For evil plans," Suxiong Jian added.

"Well, slugs do not belong to evil. They belong to those who have pure hearts and live in harmony. So I stopped them and freed the slugs, and then they chased me!" Khai explained.

"...Are you sure she was telling the truth?" Yong Gang asked Kun Zhen.

"If not, why she would be hiding in the forest?" she asked back.

"Maybe she is secretly working for the Emperor!" Rong Chun suggested and tried to grab Khai forcefully. However, her pet jumped in front of her owner and barked furiously at her.

"That's enough, Rong Chun. We should bring her to our cavern and let Master Wu see her," Kun Zhen told her.

"Are you sure it's safe, Kun Zhen?" Zhong Fen was concerned.

"Yes, Master Wu knew more about Marinatopia than me," Kun Zhen answered.

"Alright, everyone. We are heading back to the Cavern of the Last East," Zhong Fen announced. "Elsu and Eara, guard Khai and her pet!"

The twins, Elsu and Eara nodded and walked with Khai. Their pets walked with Fairy.

* * *

When Team Phoenix reached the Cavern of the Last East, they quickly brought Khai and Fairy to Master Wu.

"Master Wu! We have encountered a girl who claims that she's from Marinatopia," Kun Zhen informed him.

That caught his attention. He rushed out to see Khai.

"Are you sure she is from Marinatopia?" Yong Gang questioned Master Wu.

Master Wu took a closer look at Khai. "You look... familiar," he said as he brushed his beard. "And I feel something... something powerful... that I have felt before..."

All of the sudden, realization hit him. He took out the picture of a 4-year-old girl that Team Phoenix had found. "Could it be?" he wondered.

Suddenly, a slug hopped onto her shoulders. It looked like an... Infurnus! But it was scarlet in colour. It also had blue eyes and pink eyeliner as marks beside its eyes.

Everyone was shocked to see it. "Wait, is that an Infurnus?" Zhong Fen asked.

"Yes, she is," Khai replied. "Her name is Flare."

"Oh, it's a she," Amada blurted out.

"But she looks different," Amada pointed out.

"The Infurnus we know is orange," Yong Gang said.

"There is only one Infurnus in each set of caverns, and it is wielded by the protector of those caverns," Master Wu stated.

"What? So that means..." Rong was shocked.

"She is the protector of Marinatopia!" Kun Zhen exclaimed.

"Just like the photograph," Master Wu agreed and showed them the photo again.

Kun Zhen's exclaim accidentally caught the attention of the Shadow Clans. They appeared along with their leader. The Shadow Clan Leader noticed Khai and all of them were incredibly shocked. He spoke to Master Wu.

"He said that she should not be here at all. He wants to know how she got here," Master Wu translated.

The Shadow Clan Leader talked to Khai and surprisingly, she understood him. "I found a cave behind a waterfall. Fairy and I went inside and... we ended up here," she explained.

He spoke to Master Wu. "He said that Khai being here is too dangerous. We need to protect her until we can find a way to get her back home," he said.

"Don't worry, Master Wu. We will protect her," Kun Zhen vowed.

After Master Wu and the Shadow Clans left, Khai wondered about Team Phoenix. "Hey, I didn't get all of your names," she reminded them.

"Oh, my name is Kun Zhen," Kun Zhen introduced herself.

"My name is Zhong Fen," the Cave Troll said.

"Yong Gang," the boy in red clothes blurted out.

"Dong Song," the man wearing white fur added.

"I am Wei Cheng, a tracker," he made an introduction.

"Yu Juan," the elf replied.

"Hai Chang..." the Amphibanoid shyly said.

"Elsu and Eara Alexandersson," the twins said in unison.

"Suxiong Jian," the boy who wielded a blaster staff introduced.

"Amada," the woman with golden long hair responded.

"...Rong Chun," Rong Chun coldly said.

"We are a team of slugslingers called Team Phoenix," Kun Zhen explained. "We dedicate our lives to protect the innocent and fight for justice. We are determined to defeat the evil Emperor."

"The Emperor? I've heard of him before..." Khai said. "I saw his name on the Underlords' documents, along with their plans."

"Wait, you stole them?" Suxiong Jian questioned in shock.

"Uh... yeah," she replied. "I have all of their plans." She suddenly had an idea. "Hey, how about I join your team?"

"I'm sorry, Khai. You can't. We promise Master Wu and the Shadow Clan that we will protect you," Kun Zhen apologized.

"Oh, come on! I can handle myself! I can help out! I want to help! I can be a good slugslinger and helper!" she cried. She began to throw a tantrum. She insisted to join them.

Everyone sighed. "Okay. You can join," Kun Zhen sighed in defeat.

"Yay!" Khai cheered.

"But be careful," Zhong Fen reminded her.

"I will!" she said happily. "Hey, how about a tour of this cavern?"

"Well, it won't be a problem," Wei Cheng proudly said. He took Khai and Fairy for a tour in the Cavern of the Last East.

"This cavern was once the home of the East-West Slingers, a couple who dedicated their lives to protect the people with the Eastern Champion hundreds of years ago," Wei Cheng said.

"Who are the East-West Slingers?" Khai asked.

"Li Qiang and Claire. One of their descendants named Yi Shen also lived here before."

"So... where are they now?"

"Well... nobody really knows about their whereabouts. Their cavern is left to be protected by the Shadow Clans, keeping it a secret and slowly, it became a myth."

"So... how do you all find it?"

"Master Wu has been living here for many years, and I found him and this cavern. When Team Phoenix united, this cavern became our headquarters and refuge for the victims in the war."

Time passed as the tour went on. It was nighttime when the tour finished. Khai needed to sleep but wondered where she should sleep. So, Master Wu let her sleep in his hut. However, she could not sleep as she wanted to see the rest of the caverns in The Eastern Caverns.

Khai sneaked out and wandered off all by herself. She stumbled upon a library near Master Wu's hut. She went inside and picked some books to read. The books were about The Eastern Caverns. She started to study them.

Meanwhile, Master Wu came to her room to check on her, only to find her absence. He wondered where she was and walked around the house to find her. To his relief, he found her in the library.

"Khai, why are you here late night?" Master Wu questioned her.

"I... can't sleep," Khai answered.

He smiled. "Come," he said and Khai obeyed. He led her to the garden. "Khai, have you wondered what would your future be?"

"Well... all I want is to be a princess from the stories," she replied.

"A princess is special. Someday, you will soon be a princess. In the future," he told her.

Khai smiled and suddenly let out a yawn. Master Wu chuckled lightly. "It is time to sleep, little princess," he said.

Khai went back to her room and Master Wu tucked her to bed. She instantly fell asleep. Fairy jumped onto the bed and slept with her. Master Wu closed the door softly and left the room.


	21. Lauden Rex

" _I am Lauden Rex. The Wizard of Punishment." – Lauden Rex_

 **Lauden Rex**

In the Auroris Mines, Swick, Jonny Man and his wife, Melora were at the entrance to Auroris Cavern. They had retrieved the Auroris Crystals stolen from Kun Zhen's home cavern. They did not notice that Team Phoenix had gathered and were hiding around the cavern.

"I am glad that the Pyritor is no longer a threat to us and the Emperor," Jonny Man said.

"Wait, that rock creature is in those mines?" Swick asked.

"Yes, but it's stuck there forever. Thanks to the Emperor's curse, it will not come out and interfere with his plans," Melora answered.

"Well, I don't want to provoke that creature," Swick blurted out.

"Of course not, you dolt!" Melora scolded. "Nobody likes the Pyritor!"

Rong Chun took out her bow and her Negashade went inside the slug tube. She pulled the string, pulling the slug tube backwards. Then, she released it, sending her Negashade flying towards them. It reached velocity and used _Shadowblak_ to created a thick black fog around the Underlords. Hai Chang then slung his Hexlet. Once it collided with them, it used _HyJinx_ and a string of bad luck was on them now.

"Now!" Kun Zhen yelled and everyone jumped out of their hiding places. They aimed at the Underlords and the Stone Warriors.

"Those intruders again!" Melora shouted angrily. She tried to shoot a slug but her rifle blaster broke. So she took out another gun blaster but it fell apart. She decided to march towards them but tripped over a rock and fell hard.

"Stone Warriors!" she yelled. The eyes of the lifeless automatons glowed red and they came to life. "Attack them!" The Stone Warriors marched towards Team Phoenix.

"What are those?" Khai questioned.

"Those are Stone Warriors," Suxiong Jian answered.

"Soulless automatons created by the Emperor to conquer The Eastern Caverns," Zhong Fen added.

"And their slugs are different," Yu Juan said and fired an Armashelt. It broke its head and the Stone Warrior fell down.

"Aim for their heads!" Kun Zhen told them and slung her Knighton. It performed _Lancesoar_ and fired lances that pierced through some of the Stone Warriors.

"Just attack them!" Yong Gang suggested and shot his Firenzar. It slammed onto two automatons, destroying them.

Team Phoenix shot out their powerful slugs. Feeling the effects had worn off, Jonny Man took out his rifle blaster and aimed at Khai.

"Foolish child," he chuckled evilly and fired a Hop Rock.

Khai saw the slug coming towards her. She quickly dodged it and hid behind a rock. Jonny Man spotted her and aimed at the rock. Khai pulled out her slingshot and pulled Flare backwards. She released her and Flare was heading towards the Underlord. Jonny Man shot his Hop Rock again, but Flare easily defeated it by lighting it up. Flare advanced towards him and slammed onto his chest with full force! He was pushed backwards and hit his back onto the rocky wall.

"Another Infurnus?!" Melora was shocked to see it.

"I got them!" Swick said and fired a Hop Rock at them. However, due to his bad aiming, it hit a Stone Warrior instead, destroying it.

"Swick, you dolt!" Melora yelped.

Elsu and Eara noticed that Jonny Man was recovering from Flare's attack. "Celous! Azura! Use _Air Slash_!" they commanded as they pointed at Jonny Man.

The wings of Celous and Azura glowed light blue. They flapped their wings, releasing multiple light blue glowing saw disc-like energy blades from them at their opponent. Jonny Man used his muscles to protect himself. The attack had slowed him down.

"Swick! Stop them!" he yelled.

"I'm on it!" Swick replied and slung a Geoshard towards the twins. Before it could reach velocity, Suxiong Jian came in and knocked it away with his blaster. The Geoshard transformed and headed towards Melora. It hit the patch of ground in front of her, and surrounded her with crystals. She pulled out an annoyed look.

"Stone Warriors! Shoot the intruders!" Jonny Man commanded his army of automatons. The Stone Warriors shot the corrupted slugs. Team Phoenix speedily avoided the slugs and hid behind a few rocks.

"We are surrounded!" Zhong Fen informed.

"We have to find a way to take all of them down!" Amada said.

"I have an idea! But you all need to cover me!" Khai told them. She took out Razor, her Thresher slug.

"What are you doing?" Rong Chun questioned.

"You have to trust me!" she replied.

More corrupted slugs were fired by the Stone Warriors. Wei Cheng, Yu Juan, Yong Gang, Zhong Fen and Suxiong Jian slung their slugs to counter their attacks. Khai loaded Razor onto the rubber band of her slingshot, and fired him. Once he transformed into a tiger-shark hybrid creature, Khai put down her slingshot, raised and moved her arms. Her Thresher moved with her arms. With the Stone Warriors distracted by the heroes, Razor sawed off their heads with ease. Team Phoenix and the Underlords were startled by the fact that Khai knew Slug Fu!

"Retrieve the crystals!" Wei Cheng told them.

Team Phoenix ran towards a truck load of crystals. Hai Chang shot his Hypnogrif and it released _Vertigoad_ onto Jonny Man. Overwhelmed by vertigo and warped perspective, he could not see or shoot. Dong Song slung his Frostcrawler and froze him with _Deepfreeze_. Melora, not willing to let the heroes win, shot a Hop Rock towards them. Swick also tried to stop them and slung his Grenuke towards them at the same time. Their slug clashed onto each other, missing their targets.

When Team Phoenix gathered around the truck, all of the sudden, Shadow Clans appeared to bring them away. Melora fired an Armashelt towards them but it was too late – the Shadow Clans had teleported them away.

Melora blasted the crystals to escape. "Swick! You stupid little good for nothing!" she scolded Swick as she marched towards him angrily. "Your clumsiness always bring doom to us! What a weakling you are!" She pushed him down to the ground forcefully.

Swick felt sad after Melora scolded him. When Jonny Man and Melora left, Swick clutched his hands into fists, showing that he was angry at Melora for calling him weak.

Suddenly, Swick heard a man's voice from behind. He turned around and saw the man standing behind. He was wearing a long black cloak with blood red linings. Underneath the cloak was a long sleeved suit, a pair of trousers and long boots. They were both black and with blood red linings. A brooch that symbolized the Emperor was worn on the cloak.

"Joon?" Swick asked in surprise. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping with your master?"

"I was helping my master, Swick," Joon answered. "I heard that Melora has scolded you about how weak you are."

"Hey! I am not weak!" Swick snapped.

Joon chuckled. "I have something for you," he told him.

"What is it?" Swick asked. Joon gave a small black box to him. "What's inside of it?"

"Open it and see," Joon said.

Swick opened the small black box and inside was a ruby gemstone that looked like a demon's eye. Its colour was crimson mixed with purple and black.

"Why do you give this ruby to me, Joon?" he questioned.

"The ruby can make you stronger," Joon explained.

"Like what?" Swick was about to ask to him but Joon suddenly vanished, much to his surprise.

* * *

Later, Swick was in Shirengenoi Cavern. He was wearing the ruby gemstone around his neck as a necklace. Swick met up with Melora. "Melora... I am sorry... for my failure of not stopping Team Phoenix just now," he apologized to her.

"Hmph. I'll give you one more chance but you must not fail me again. If you do, you will be fired because you are still weak," Melora said and then walked away.

Her attitude made Swick's anger to grow high, which caused the ruby to react by his anger and absorb it. Somewhere in Shirengenoi Cavern, Joon was hiding in the shadows. He saw Swick was getting very angry towards Melora, and he knew that the ruby would do something on Swick.

In the afternoon, Swick was patrolling around the Shirengenoi Cavern. Swick was still furious at Melora for calling him weak. He wished to be the strongest Underlord in The Eastern Caverns. Suddenly, he felt something strange within him like he was feeling sick. He was unaware that the ruby was absorbing all of his anger and it emitted a dark red glow.

Then, Jonny Man appeared and came up to Swick. He noticed Swick's expression. "Swick, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, Jonny," Swick quickly replied.

"We are going to Kagayaku Cavern to pick up the supplies for the other Underlords," Jonny Man told him. Swick nodded, understood his statement. Jonny Man, Melora and Swick headed to Kagayaku Cavern and rode on a train with the supplies.

What they did not know was that Team Phoenix was hiding in some of the boxes, ready to ambush. They felt the train moving. The lid of a small box creaked open, and Flare came out of it. She hopped around until she found Jonny Man.

"Huh?" Jonny Man was shocked to see Flare. She went to him and blew a raspberry.

"Why you little-!" he scowled and began to chase her. Flare hopped back towards the boxes. When Flare stopped moving, he attempted to catch her. However, he felt suspicious as she was smirking.

"Hey," Yong Gang said casually as he had his blaster aimed at Jonny Man. The other members in Team Phoenix were doing the same thing. They already had came out of their hiding spots. They shot out all of their slugs, knocking Jonny Man unconscious and wrapped him up with the web of a few Arachnet slugs.

Swick heard the shots fired and decided to check it out. He went to the back where the cargo was stored. He gasped when he saw his friend Jonny was tied up and out cold. "Jonny! Jonny Boy!" he tried to wake him up while slapping his face, but it was not working.

A blaster being activated was heard from behind. "I'm sorry, he's already out cold," Yu Juan told him as she aimed at Swick.

"Who are you?" Swick asked as he turned his head to face her. He saw the entire Team Phoenix, aiming their blasters at him. "Oh, it's you guys again," he scowled. "Thanks to all of you, I am almost fired!"

"We are just doing our jobs. Borrowing all of these... stuffs," she said and smirked mischievously.

"You all are stealing them!" he yelled furiously.

"Eh, wrong! You Underlords stole them first!" she corrected.

"You all stole from those innocent people and took them for granted!" Zhong Fen added.

"So we stole them back for those innocent people," Yong Gang said.

"Hmm... sounds like Robin Hood," Khai blurted out.

"Uh... who is Robin Hood exactly?" Kun Zhen wondered.

"Uhm, he's a man who steals from the rich and gives to the poor," Khai explained.

"Thief! He is a thief!" Swick yelped.

"Shut it!" Yu Juan told him and punched him. She also kicked his crotch, causing Swick to become immobile as he fell down. "What a loser," she snickered.

When she turned back to Team Phoenix, they were gathered by a group of Shadow Clans. Swick tried to shoot them with his blaster, but Flare came up to his shoe and lit up a small flame. As the shoe began to burn, Swick felt the unbearable heat and shrieked loudly. That caught the attention of Yu Juan. She kicked his blaster off his grasp and stepped onto his face with force, making him dizzy.

"Yu Juan, why must you be so rough?" Kun Zhen asked concernedly.

"What? He's a bad guy!" Yu Juan protested.

At the same time, footsteps could be heard, coming from outside the cargo room. The door slid open, and Melora came in. "WHAT?!" she yelped as she saw Team Phoenix and the Shadow Clans.

"Goodbye!" Yu Juan replied teasingly as she waved her hand. A second or two later, the heroes, along with all of the supplies, disappeared in a black flash.

"Ugh... what...? The supplies!" Jonny Man was shocked to see them disappear after he woke up.

"What happened, dear?" Melora asked.

"Well, an Infurnus brought me here and they knocked me out cold!" he explained.

Melora turned to the dazed Swick. "What... happened...?" he questioned.

She furiously grabbed the dazed Swick by the collar and shook him. "You good for nothing Flopper!" she scolded him. "I have given you one chance. One chance! And you let them get away with all of the supplies! And now we are heading to Peach Blossom Spring Cavern without them! The Emperor and the Dai-Fu will not be happy, and we could all get fired – or worse!"

"But wait! My dear, we can report to the Emperor about the little girl who has an Infurnus and who knows Slug Fu!" Jonny Man reminded.

Melora stopped and thought about it. "Wait... yeah! We can tell him about the girl as an excuse for our failures, and he will spare us all!" she smiled.

"Well, except for Swick," he corrected.

"Yes, except for the worthless scum Swick," she spat out of disgust and threw Swick down. "Get ready to land. We must report to the Emperor immediately." She and Jonny Man left, leaving Swick in the cargo room alone. Swick slammed his fists on the floor in rage.

* * *

It was night in Peach Blossom Spring Cavern. The Dragon Train had arrived and the Underlords were disappointed at the lost of the supplies. Swick, Jonny Man and Melora were sent into The Imperial Palace, where they would face the Emperor and the Dai-Fu.

"How could you three lose all of the supplies to Team Phoenix?" Dai-Fu asked angrily. "This is not the standard work ethic we have required from the Underlords."

"Forgive me, Lady Dai-Fu, but there is one member in Team Phoenix who really put us in difficulty," Jonny Man apologized.

"An eleven years old girl, who wields a scarlet-coloured Infurnus and knows Slug Fu," Melora added.

"What? Another Infurnus? And knows Slug Fu?" the Emperor was interested. "Hmm... could she be the Phoenix like the Prophecy has been told?"

"We don't know for sure, but she could be the one," Melora answered.

"Hmm... I will send my daughters to check on her. You three are all forgiven," the Emperor responded.

"Your Majesty, Swick was the one who ruined our plans," Melora told him.

"Then perhaps we should fire him?" Dai-Fu questioned the Emperor.

"Hmmm... it will do. You are fired!" the Emperor told Swick as he pointed at him.

"What?! That is not fair!" Swick protested and stormed out of the palace. He became angrier at himself and Melora.

 _I am so weak. I'm as weak as a twig!_ He thought to himself repeatedly.

Suddenly, he felt pain inside him, causing him to fall to his knees. The ruby around his neck absorbed all of his anger and glowed in dark red. Then, Melora appeared and found Swick. She growled in anger and walked towards him about to scold or mock him or being so weak. She suddenly stopped her tracks when she noticed a dark aura surrounding Swick's body. Before she could react, Swick whirled around his head towards Melora and to her horror, she saw Swick's eyes were crimson!

Then, a massive shockwave was produced from Swick, causing Melora to push back in full force. Her back collided with a tree. Melora shook her head to get rid of the headache and looked at Swick. Horrified, she watched Swick's transformation.

Swick's skinny body became muscular and he grew tall. He was now a handsome adult man in his 40s. His short brown hair transformed into a thick, knee-length black hair. His fair skin became extremely pale and his green eyes became crimson. His Underlord uniform changed and replaced into a formal outfit. He wore a white ruffled shirt with long sleeves that reached his wrists, a dark violet vest underneath his ruffled shirt, a long scarlet coat, black dress pants, and dark gray boots. There was a ruby brooch on the center of his ruffled shirt's collar that shaped like a furious beast.

As his transformation was completed, Swick looked totally different and evil.

Melora stood up to her feet and was terrified to see Swick's sudden transformation. Swick gave Melora a death glare with his new crimson eyes, which made her frighten and freeze on her place. He then created a dark energy ball in his right hand palm and blasted it towards Melora!

Before Melora could escape, she was struck by the dark energy ball and she fell onto the ground motionless. Swick walked towards the motionless body of Melora and smirked evilly as he found that she's... dead.

Soon, Jonny Man and the other few Underlords appeared in the scene. They saw Swick and the motionless Melora on the ground. Jonny Man was horrified when he saw his wife lying on the ground.

"I hate to inform you this, sir. She's dead," Swick informed Jonny Man in a dark and unfamiliar tone, which made Jonny Man even more horrified.

Blinded by rage, Jonny Man aimed his blaster at him. The other few Underlords followed his action. However, they were unaware that he was Swick in his new form.

"What happened to my beloved wife, you fool?" Jonny Man demanded.

"Oh, nothing, except that I was the one who killed her," Swick replied and gave Jonny Man an evil smirk.

Jonny Man let out a furious scream and shot his Hop Rock at Swick. The rest of the Underlords followed by shooting their slugs. However, when the slugs approached him, his eyes glowed crimson, which stopped the slugs midair! Jonny Man and the Underlords were extremely shocked as they could not believe what they see. Then, Swick slightly waved his left hand, causing the slugs to turn around to face their owners and went against them as they attacked their owners.

"How dare you fire your slugs at me?" Swick said angrily, which freak out the Underlords and cowardly ran away, leaving Jonny Man behind.

Jonny Man now felt scared of him. "Who... who are you?" he asked.

"I am Lauden Rex. The Wizard of Punishment," he introduced himself and then used telekinesis on Jonny Man. The strong force lifted him up in the air and was choking him.

"Now you listen here. You and your Underlords are now working with me. If you refuse... you will meet your end just like what I did to your beloved wife," Lauden said to Jonny Man coldly.

"O... Okay..." Jonny Man choked, accepting the deal.

Within the shadows, Joon saw everything, including Swick's dark transformation and the death of Melora. He quickly disappeared and reappeared in The Imperial Palace.

"Master, the Ruby of Dark Sorcery Transformation has worked! Swick is now Lauden Rex - The Wizard of Punishment. And he had killed Melora," Joon informed the Emperor.

"Good~ Now I shall hire him to make the Underlords do my thing," the Emperor smiled evilly.

* * *

It was nighttime too in the Cavern of the Last East. Khai was at Master Wu's hut, reading her favourite story book. Fairy and the rest of her slugs were playing around. Master Wu came in and saw her reading a book.

"What are you doing, Khai?" he asked her.

"I am reading my favourite story book when I was little," she replied.

"What is it about?" he questioned.

"It's about the Guardians of Harmony," she answered.

Then, Dong Song appeared. "Dinner is ready," he informed.

Team Phoenix, Khai and Master Wu were having dinner now. Their slugs were having dinner too. Fairy, on the other hand, ate cherries since it was her favourite berry. During dinner, nine silhouette of young women were hidden in the shadows. They were spying on them, particular on Khai.

"I think it's her..." the first silhouette told the other silhouettes.

"So, she has an Infurnus... How interesting," the second silhouette blurted out.

"Father would be so pleased about this," the third silhouette said.

"But... is she the Phoenix?" the fourth silhouette questioned.

"...I think not." the fifth silhouette responded.

"What do you mean?" the sixth silhouette asked.

"Well... I sense a strong energy coming from her. But the energy is different," The seventh answered.

"So... she isn't the Phoenix?" the eighth silhouette guessed.

"Hmm... I think we will find out soon. And if we do... we will report this to our father," the ninth silhouette responded.

Back to Team Phoenix, after dinner, Kun Zhen was thinking about Swick. She was worried about him and wondered how he was. Though, she knew he would be fired of being an Underlord due to his clumsiness. Khai came up to her and tapped her right shoulder a few times to get her attention.

Kun Zhen turned to Khai. "What's wrong, Kun Zhen?" Khai asked.

"Well... I was... a little worried... about Swick..." Kun Zhen answered.

"Oh, why?" Khai curiously asked. That was when Kun Zhen's face went slightly red.

"Oh~ Are you in love with him?" Khai questioned teasingly.

"H-Huh?! No! I-I'm not in love with him!" Kun Zhen defended and her face got redder. Khai giggled at her.

Suddenly, they heard Dong Song's voice calling to other members of Team Phoenix. They gathered around.

"I have news about a new Underlord. His name is Lauden Rex, known as The Wizard of Punishment. He is known to have... murdered Melora..." Dong Song informed, shocking everyone. "The Underlords are now working for him, or they will face the same fate as Melora."

After Dong Song told them about the news, Khai was in Master Wu's hut, feeling a bit shocked after learning the death of Melora. Though, Dong Song was even more shocked when he heard about her death and realized that Lauden Rex was the one who killed her.

Khai decided to sleep to forget about it. She went to her bed and fell asleep instantly. Fairy jumped onto her bed and slept too. Her slugs went to their respective slug tubes and fell asleep.

* * *

Kagayaku means "sparkle" in Japanese.


End file.
